


Adapting

by ffrindyddraig



Series: Post First Class [2]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men : First Class (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bad Science, Character Death Fix, Gay Darwin, Gen, Human Experimentation, Period-Typical Homophobia and Transphobia, Period-Typical Racism, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Swearing, Trans Scott Summers, Use of Period Terminology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 04:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 35,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14845688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ffrindyddraig/pseuds/ffrindyddraig
Summary: Darwin's body would never let him do something as human as die. He's back, but life is rarely as simple as that.





	Adapting

**Author's Note:**

> Darwin's back!!!!! As if something as minor as his body disintegrating could stop him!  
> Just warning you this is all British spelling and it hasn't been beta read. All mistakes are mine and if you think someone is out of character you're probably right. I only really know Darwin from the Deadly Genesis story line (y'know the one where everyone realises what a dick Xavier actually is) and he only had about three lines in the movie. And now we have more bad science because how do brains even work? I've also started on fixing the movie so everyone is not American. This time, focusing on Sean and Moira, from Ireland and Scotland respectively.  
> I do not own Marvel or the X-Men, if I did Darwin wouldn't of been killed in the first place.  
> I hope you enjoy reading. Also, five points to whoever recognises all the mutants at the end.

"This isn't right."

Darwin slowly lifted his head up. It felt slow, heavy. He had an IQ off the scales, but even simple thoughts were too much. Drugging him? No. They didn't work on him. Something else. He was too smart for them, too strong. They needed to bring him down to their level. His eyes didn't seem to be working properly. Blurry. But he could make out a woman. Red hair. She looked familiar.

"He's an American citizen! A human being! Not a bloody lab rat!" He squinted at her. Her lips were moving. The voice that seemed so far away was coming from her.

Thought were hard to focus on. Like it wasn't his life. Wasn't his mind. Faces without names. Names without faces. Smoke. A roof. _Pain_. That was still clear. Like every cell in his body was being burnt apart. Nothing they could do to him here came close to that.

"Does it look human to you?" That voice Darwin knew too well. It cut through his addled mind like a scalpel. The Boss of whatever this place was. It was always worse when he was watching.

He knew the answer to the question, but he still ached for her to stand up for him. To say no, he wasn't a freak. It was all just some big misunderstanding. He was human.

She edged closer to him, eyes looking him up and down. He'd been looked at like this before by _her_. But without the glass. He said he would help them. What did they do to him? Why couldn't he remember her name?

"Where did you find him?"

"Division X." Her head snapped up. Surprised.

"That doesn't exist." Darwin shook his head. It was so heavy. She was wrong. She had been a part of it. She was the human. The human among freaks. Mutants to protect the world against mutants, under the watchful eyes of humans. Of course.

"You don't believe that. If you did, you wouldn't have fought your way to the top of the mutie division, would you Ms MacTaggert?"

The name was like a lightning bold through his head. "Moira." He slurred.  It was barely more than a whisper, but the woman (Moira MacTaggert, the human) seemed to hear. For the first time she looked him in the eyes.

"What did you say?"

The Boss stepped forward. "Please Mrs. MacTaggert, don't talk to the - "

She lifted a hand up. Like he was a child. Shushing him. She repeated her question.

"Moira." He said it louder. "Your name is Moira MacTaggert."

She looked deeper into his eyes. Trying to work it out. Then she looked away. Back to The Boss. Away from him. No. He lies. Come back.

"Is he telepathic?" She demanded.

"We don't know what it's capable of."

Moira sighed in annoyance. Arms over chest. "Has he shown even a wee hint of telepathic abilities when you did your tests?"

"We don't - "

"Let me ask you again, and this time you will give me a yes or no answer or I will cut all your funding." The Boss' jaw locked but when she asked the question again he gave her a meek "No".

She turned back to Darwin, completely ignoring her guide. She stepped closer to the glass, her nose nearly pressed against it. She put a hand on it. A divider. Human-Mutant. Right-Wrong. Free-Caged. Don't let them touch. "How did you know my name?"

Darwin reached forward. _Cold_. He had forgotten what cold was. He pulled his hand away from the glass like it burnt. Did things burn cold? He should know that.

"From before." She frowned. Her hand didn't move. He wanted to try again but he didn't like the feeling of cold.

"I think I would remember that." _Because you're a freak_. She didn't say that. She might have well of.

"Clearly it's a liar." The Boss butted in again. Darwin glared at him. "Like I've been trying to tell you, telepathy would not be a surprise. This thing can walk through fire! Compared to that, picking your name out your head would be a piece of cake."

Moira seemed to waver. No. Quickly, Darwin wracked his brain. Anything that would get her attention. His stomach sank. He didn't know a thing. He couldn't remember a single conversation with her! He didn't even think they had one.

"I was in Division X with you. Charles Xavier introduced us." Yes, Charles. He could sought this out. His brain could do anything.

But Moira stepped back. "He doesn't know me."

"I told you." The Boss put his hand softly on her back. She stepped away in disgust. Good. He was a bad man. He began to leave, and after a second the woman followed. But Darwin couldn't let her leave. She was his only chance. He couldn't get out. He needed to get out. Oh God, he needed to. He couldn't stay here. Not with the cutting and the stitching and the pain. He pressed his face against the glass. Yelled after her. Like a crazy man. _No, I'm not crazy_.

"Charles Xavier! Find Charles Xavier! He'll help me! You need to find him!" Darwin screamed in till his throat burnt and tears ran down his face. Then he collapsed on the floor and closed his eyes. Prayed to a God he stopped believing in for her to help.

*

They never turned off the light in his cell. His eye lids had grown thicker to block out the penetrating fluorescent light. With no idea what time of day it was he couldn't track them. One bleed into the next and the next. He kept track by when they hauled him out of the cell. Begin to cut and stitch and laugh as he screams. Each time sure he wouldn't come back. Each time praying he wouldn't come back.

As he lay on the bed, eyes closed, he wondered if this was another test. The food - or, rather, lack of - took him almost two days to work out. Knowing that way lay madness (or was he already mad?), he tried to think about the time before. He could see his flat in the city clearly behind his eyes. Him and his friends partying at night. Drinking. Dancing. Kissing. Laughing. And his cab. His beautiful yellow  cab which he drove in the day time.

It was not perfect, though it seemed like a paradise compared to the rest of his life. What was a broken sink, and bigots attacking him, and his closest friends not knowing he was a mutant? It was his life. His choices. He should never of left with Charles. He hadn't even said goodbye to them, so sure he wouldn't be away for long. They probably wrote him off as dead when he didn't come home. Nobody would of told the police, or his mother. She might of finally been happy, if she learnt her freak of a son was dead.

_Crash_.

Darwin sat up, double thick eyelids flying open. Probably nothing, hopefully something. His mind flew to Moira. Maybe... no, that was weeks (?) ago. Carefully he got up. Silently - his power was fine now, whatever they blocked his power with was not currently in use - he moved towards the glass. He peered out, craning his neck left and right. The guard who was usually posted at the door was gone. That was -

Gunfire.

He jumped back, powerful legs taking him all the way to the other side of the cell. It was over as quickly as it began. The silence that followed was deafening. He froze and strained his ears, desperate to pick up anything.

Footsteps. Keypad. The beeps were wrong. A curse. Then :

"If anyone's there you might want to move back."

Darwin looked around the cell, trying to find a place to hid from whatever the hell was going to happen. Then he remembered he survived the equivalent of a sun going supernova in his chest. He made a point of standing up straight and face it. Like hell he was going to be rescued while cowering like a baby. That being said, he still moved to the right of the door.

The door flew off its hinges in a blast of heat and Darwin knew he made the right choice. Getting hit by a steel door was never a good idea. It crashed into the other wall with a loud bang, bouncing off without leaving a dent. Darwin's eyes didn't need to adjust.

"Alex?" He asked. Blonde hair, blue eyes and death lasers, who else could it be? The ridiculous suit was new, but Darwin would take him in his underpants. He rushed forward, pulling the man into a hug. He thought they were all dead. Shaw made it clear he had no qualms about killing them. As he pushed the other man's body into his, he closed his eyes.

It took longer for his rescuer to adapt to the situation. For a second he just stood there, frozen to the spot, before his arms reached around and hugged him back. Tight. "Darwin?" His voice was weak, shaky, like he'd seen a ghost. Maybe he was a ghost. Maybe this wasn't really here. _It's all in your head, freak._

He let Alex out the hug, pushing the man back so he could see him better. His hands stayed around his biceps, sure that if he let go he would just fade away in front of his eyes. He wasn't going to let him. Darwin needed him to be here.

"I thought you were dead!"

"You thought - I saw you _explode_!" Alex spluttered out. "You - " A loud, piercing alarm blared out. "Shit. We can figure this out later. We got to go."

Darwin nodded his agreement, and followed him out the cell which had become his home. The corridor was empty except for the guards Alex had already put out of action, but Darwin knew they wouldn't stay like that for long. He stepped over them, bending down and picking up one of the guns. One thing elite private schools taught you was how to shoot. Of course, they used hunting rifles, not sub machine guns.

Gun raised, he tried to move in front of Alex, but the man pushed him back.

"What are you doing?" Alex hissed.

"Bullets can't hurt me. They can hurt you." He pointed out. For a second Alex stood his ground, then he sighed and moved back to let him in front.

"Don't worry," Darwin joked. "I won't die again." At his words, Alex looked like he was going to push in front of him and take every bullet that came this way. "Too soon?"

"Just a hint for the future : less than a minute is too soon."

They began moving along the hallway. Darwin was as silent as a cat, Alex as loud as Godzilla in Tokyo in comparison. He hissed instructions to Darwin at the end of each corridor.  

At the third corner Darwin stuck his head around, only to quickly pull it back. "Five" he muttered to Alex, "heavily armed and coming our way." He lifted his gun up so it was pointing forward. He didn't want to kill these people, even after what they did to him. He wasn't a murder. Alex held his hand up, stopping him swinging around the corner and opening fire.

"Let me take care of this." He took a deep breath and Darwin stared at amazement as the man's whole body began to _glow_. He grinned at Darwin, showing all his teeth. "Don't need to hula hoop anymore."

Then he swung around the corner. Red light, too bright for anyone else to look at, pushed out of his hands and chest plate. The guards didn't have time to shoot even a single bullet. After he was done, Darwin looked down the corridor and let out a long whistle. From one burst it looked like a war zone : scorch marks on the walls, a fire burning at the far end, and five bodies lying in glass from the shattered windows on the floor. Darwin didn't ask if they were still alive. He didn't want to kill anyone. He hoped they were dead.

"C'mon." He darted down the corridor, Alex hot on his heels. The noise of that commotion was not lost, and before they had even reached the end of the hall, more guards were running towards them. Guns raised, they began to fire. Darwin's flesh hardened to rock and the bullets ricocheted off him harmlessly. He hoped some of them bounced off and hit their owner. He pulled his own trigger.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Three down. Two in the knee, one in the knee and hand. Darwin had always been a good shot. Behind him, Alex had taken out his own couple. His power was now working in smaller, more directed bursts. Darwin wondered how many shots the man could take before he needed to recharge. If he needed to recharge at all. At least his worries about using Darwin as a mutant shield had gone. He'd have more holes than a sieve if he hadn't jumped behind him when the firing started.

"Bullets don't work!" yelled the one remaining guard. Who to, even Darwin's genius couldn't work that out. The guard ran forward and smashed the butt of the gun in Darwin's face. The mutant didn't even feel it and responded by head butting the man back. You didn't have to be good at fighting when you turned as hard as rocks. The man stood for a second, swaying, then collapsed onto the floor. Blood covered his face, a bright red mask. Darwin was pretty sure he heard something crunch.

"Let's get out of here before they bring out the missile launchers." Darwin called, setting off at a run.

"Wait, you can't survive missile launchers?" Alex called. He kept up easily with him.

"Of course I can. Can you?"

"Point taken." The other man speed up, overtaking Darwin. That lasted for about a second, and then he was in front again.

They got to the roof without meeting another guard. As they burst out onto the roof access door Darwin worked out why. Up here another fight was going on. Darwin had to blink to make sure he was seeing things right. A blue blur seemed to be attacking the guards. Even Darwin could barely keep up with the... _thing_ as it flipped and fought and attacked. Past him, closer to the plane, another figure was laying down fire with a red beam that looked exactly like Alex's. Only Alex was still beside him.

"As much as I appreciate an adoring audience, I would appreciate some assistance even more." The thing said, and Darwin realised it - _he_ \- had to be a mutant. He was slightly ashamed that he hadn't realised that before. So what if it was blue and furry, he was on their side! Alex and him sprung into action.

Darwin took the first guard out from behind, kicking the back of his knees with enough force to send him crashing into the ground with a yell. He reached for his gun as he went down, but Darwin was faster, stamping on his hand. It crunched and the man screamed. He picked up the guards gun himself, rolling away once it was in his hands. He landed in a crouched position, ready to fire.

Bang. One man down. He swung around. Shoulder. Bang. A man fell of the blue mutant.

An arm grabbed him from behind. Arm around his neck, trying to strangle him. Didn't they tell the guards who they were dealing with? He smashed his gun behind him, into his opponents stomach. The man grunted, releasing his attack. He spun around, gun pressed into the man's flesh.

And found he couldn't shoot.

The man's eyes were wide with fear. He was trembling. Shaking his head. Just a man, doing his job. Just wanting to get paid and make it to the weekend. Darwin opened his mouth to say - what? Sorry?

"Stay down." He finally said. The man nodded, and Darwin lifted the gun up and turned away. He'd only gone as far as a step when he felt something crash into his legs. It surprised him, and he went down, crashing onto the floor. For a second they rolled around, both trying to find the upper ground. The guard won, experience beating brute strength. The man he spared, ready to kill him. Darwin smashed his head forward. Didn't hurt him, but the guard collapsed on top of him. He pushed the body off him in disgust.

Around him the sound of gunfire and fighting had ceased. Darwin just lay on the cool floor for a second, getting his breath back.

A blue furred _paw_ appeared in his field of vision. "Are you OK my Lazarus like friend?"

Darwin took it, and was pulled up easily. He looked at the mutant's big grinning face. He felt like he was missing something. "Who are you?"

The man's face deflated like a popped balloon. "I know my physique is somewhat bluer and furrier than when you last saw me, but surely I am not so unremarkable that you cannot remember me at all?"

" _Hank_?" Darwin asked. No, it couldn't be. But under all that fur, he could see his friends features. Hank nodded. "But - what happened?"

"A long story which I will tell you at a different time - as long as you tell me yours."

Darwin just nodded, glad the man hadn't asked for his urine like the first time they met. The stress of the last - what? Ten minutes? - was catching up with him. Dazed, he followed Hank to the jet and climbed inside, collapsing on one of the passenger chairs. In the pilot seats, the other two rescuers were arguing.

"You could at least thank me for saving your life!" From the seat Darwin had fallen into, he couldn't see the face of the person talking, nor did he recognise the voice.   

"I couldn't do that if you were shot! You were under strict instructions to stay on the plane at all times!" Alex replied, angrily.

"What, so I could see you guys get butchered through the window?"

"We would of been fine!"

"Right and _that's_ why I had to shoot the soldier who was about to take you out?"

"I could of handled - "

"Fellows," Hank said, smoothly moving between the two fighting people. Darwin thought he was brave, his mind going back to Alex splitting a bronze statue in half.

"This is none of your business fur ball." Alex snarled. If Hank was hurt by the man's comments he made no indication.

"And I have no plans to get involved. I was just going to suggest we leave this place before the reinforcements arrive."

Alex glared at Hank, then held a finger up at the mysterious third member of the team. "This isn't over." He warned, sounding like a parent rather than an early twenty year old. He got up and strapped himself into the seat next to Darwin's. Hank took the seat he just vacated.

"Ready?" He asked the co-pilot, and the engines were flicked on. Then they began to more vertically upwards. While Darwin was no expert on planes, he was pretty sure they were not meant to do that. He clung onto the arm rests in till they were moving horizontally again. Next to him, Alex was clinging on too, his knuckles nearly white with tension. Darwin hoped that it wasn't a warning about their pilots flying ability. He didn't want his first plane ride to end in a fiery crash.

"Are you OK?" Darwin asked, in a low voice. It felt wrong to speak loudly as everyone could hear the conversation. Why didn't this thing have compartments?

"I don't like flying." Alex spat out. He took a break. Blinked, then turned on him. "You were dead. In till I saw you take those bullets I thought you were Mystique or something."

Mystique? Oh, _Raven_. Charles' sister had given them all ridiculous nicknames. "I don't think I ever died."

"What, so you exploding was just a trick of the light then?" He snapped it. Alex seemed to realise his tone was uncalled for. He sighed, pushing his hand through his blonde hair. It had grown since Darwin had last seen it. "Sorry. This is all a shock."

"It's fine. And no, it wasn't a trick of the light. I exploded. But then I pulled myself back together. My mutant body wouldn't let me do something as _human_ as die."

"We should of waited for you instead of running off. We should of thought about your power!"

"I don't blame you." Darwin didn't mention he did, at the start. Then he came to the conclusion that they had only left him to become a lab rat because they were dead. And you can't blame the dead. So instead he turned all his anger onto Shaw and the Government. But even now, when he knew they left him, he couldn't find anger for them. How would they of known? He never told them death didn't really work out for him. "I thought I was going to die too when I, y'know, exploded."

"If it wasn't for my blast..."

"What, I'll still be alive or something? If you remember it was _my_ idea." He changed to subject, suspecting Alex wouldn't stop feeling the guilt anytime soon, and Darwin had more important things to talk about. "Shaw?"

"Dead. Actually dead, I hope. The Professor will explain it all better. Use his mind and all that."

Darwin suspected all his questions about Division X would get the same answer. "Who were you arguing with?"

"An asshole who can't follow basic instructions." He raised his voice as he said it, and Darwin winced as the pilots fell silent, own conversation paused. "Also known as my brother."

"I didn't know you had a brother." Of course Darwin didn't. They never got to the whole family conversation.  

"Life was a hell of a lot simpler before I did as well." Alex muttered it under his breath, and Darwin got the feeling he wasn't meant to of heard that. Maybe he should remind the man of his super hearing. "His name's Scott."

"Does he do the - " Darwin began hula hooping his hips. Alex glared at him.

"No. And don't mention it. I want him to think I'm cool." Darwin snorted. "Oi, I can be cool!"

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Where you always this much of an asshole or did you develop it in captivity?"

"Strange. I was going to ask you the same question." He flung back, not missing a beat. Alex flipped him off with a smile.

"He's always been this much of an asshole." Alex's brother called back. He swung his chair around slightly, and Darwin saw a kid who couldn't be much more than fourteen. He thought Charles would put his foot down on sending children on missions, but Angel had only been sixteen, and he didn't know the man well at all. Scott had a grin on his face that showed wonky, slightly yellow teeth, and a bulky visor covered the top half of his face, making it hard to work out what the boy actually looked like. There was a red strip where the eyes should be, and it seemed to glow.

"Why are you all ganging up on me?" Alex complained, his bottom lip sticking out like a child. "I'm beginning to think the Beast is my only friend here."

"No, I think you're an asshole too." Everyone laughed, and Alex had no choice but to join in.

Darwin stretched out on his seat. While it was not built for comfort, it was soft pillow compared to what he was used to. "How longs the flight going to be?" He called forward.

"An hour and sixteen minutes. I suggest you get some shut eye. The Professor will have a lot of questions for you." Hank answered.

Darwin lay his head on the rest. Like hell he was going to be able to sleep...

*

An hour and sixteen minutes later the Blackbird settled into Charles' private hanger on his Westchester estate. Alex had to repeat that three times before it went into Darwin's head. Private hanger. Westchester. It all seemed a bit farfetched. Then he remember that the man had funded his own custom built plane, he was clearly rolling in it.

That wasn't enough preparation for the mansion itself. Darwin stood in front of it, looking up. His mouth hung open, and he was sure the only reason it stayed on was his mutation. It was bigger than his school. It was bigger than the black neighbourhoods in the city. This spoke of wealth and privilege that Darwin wasn't even allowed to think of.

"It is impressive," said Hank as he walked past him, making his way to the front door. Alex slapped him on the shoulder.

"You'll get used to it." He grinned. Darwin shook his head in disbelief.  

"I don't think I will." With one last amazed glanced, he followed the men across the perfect lawn. He wondered if there was a gardener, and if so, if they knew about the inhabitants who lived inside. The doors were grand, and Darwin could not help but feel insignificant in front of them. He took the steps up, while Alex ran up the ramp. As he walked, he refused to look at his feet. He was not going to show his intimidation. He never thought that school would teach him anything worthwhile, now he realised how wrong he was. Of course, how to stand up for yourself around rich privileged white assholes who didn't think you were worth the dog shit on their shoes wasn't exactly on the curriculum.

Hank pushed the doors open. The inside did nothing to calm his nerves. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, expensive art adorned the walls, and a grand stair case led up to the floor above. And in front of it all stood Charles Xavier. He looked older. Worry lines etched into his face, and while he had obviously tried his best, his shirt was crumpled in a way his perfectly ironed shirts before never were. And he was in a wheelchair.

"A permanent feature I'm afraid." Charles said it with a smile that was meant to keep Darwin it ease. It just left the man looking sad.

"How did it happen?" He asked, after wetting his lips. Hank turning blue, Charles in a chair, and where the hell was the others?

Charles held up a hand. "Please, I'll answer all your questions in my study. Come." He spun his chair around, and began to move. The rest fell into step behind him, Hank quick walking so he was beside the older man. If they were talking, they were doing so telepathically. Behind Darwin was Scott. He was hanging back slightly, hands shoved deep inside his pockets. Alex walked with him, but said nothing, allowing Darwin to stare mouth open at the features of the mansion.

Inside the study, Charles positioned himself behind the desk. He placed his elbows on the table, his fingers touching. He studied them all with his clear blue eyes as they all took their own seats. Darwin found himself directly opposite the man. Suddenly he felt like a child summoned to the headmaster's office. Something Darwin was all too familiar with. He'd been a straight A student and did his best not to step even a little toe out of line. Unsurprisingly whenever something went wrong the blame was laid on him.

"I kept in contact with the rescue team telepathically," Charles said, talking only to Darwin, "There is no need to explain what happened. Scott?" He turned his head towards the boy. Darwin turned to watch him.

"Yes sir?" Alex's brother sat up straighter in his chair, like he thought good posture was going to help him.

"You disobeyed a direct order."

The kid shrunk in on himself. He looked down, hair falling in front of his visor. "Yes sir. But - "

Charles lifted a finger up, silencing him. "No buts. You begged me to be allowed on this mission. If you cannot follow instructions, you will not be allowed on future assignments, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir." It was barely more than a whisper. Scott's head had dropped so much it was nearly touching his knees. It seemed a bit mean to discipline him in front of them all. If he hadn't stepped in, the battle could of gone in a completely different direction. Even Alex, who was clearly concerned about Scott's actions, had to admit the boy had helped.

"You are dismissed." Scott's head flew up, mouth in a thin line.

"Sir. I - "

"You. Are. Dismissed." For a moment he sat there, stubbornly. Then he stood up and left, head bowed. Charles waited in till the door swung shut behind him before turning to Hank. "I believe you have something for us."

Hank looked at the door. "That was uncalled for."

"On the contrary, I expect my team to follow my orders. Now, the file."

Hank sighed, before putting the brown paper file on the table. In till that moment, Darwin had not been aware the man had been carrying it. It was blank giving no clues to what was inside. Charles opened it solemnly. The paper inside was pure white, black ink printed heavily on it. **Trask Industries** it read.

"Are you going to keep the rest of us in suspense?" Alex called from behind Darwin.

"It's not good." Hank said with a sigh.

Alex snorted. "You mean they weren't experimenting on Darwin to help the puppies?" His sarcasm was so thick, you could drown in it.

"Unfortunately it's not just Darwin they have been experimenting on. They mentioned another "testing" facility, as well as another building with no description."

Another facility? There were hurting over people. Cutting and slicing and oh God. They have to help them! No one should go through what he did. No one. This wasn't OK. Why weren't they doing anything?

"So we just need to take it down? Easy!" Darwin nodded along to Alex's comment.

"If only..."

"Hank is right." Charles said through a long sigh. "They will no doubt be increasing security as we speak." It didn't matter. Shouldn't matter. People were being hurt. They couldn't leave them. Wait...

"What about in mine? Was their other people there? Why didn't you save them?" Cutting, slicing, stitching, oh God his friends were monsters they left the rest to die. No. His friends wouldn't do that. Were they his friends? He barely knew them.

Unaware of the plight in his head, the other three man looked at each other. It was Charles who spoke first. "The rest of lab looked at... dissection of already deceased mutants. Hence, why the security was lower."

"You mean..." Oh God. Everyone else in that place was dead. He spent his second life living in a morgue.

Charles nodded. He turned away, letting Darwin absorb it on himself. Which was not really working because oh God he shared a lab with dead people and that wasn't right. They were defacing the dead and oh God no wonder they liked him so much because he was alive and could still scream when they cut and sliced and sewed and oh God oh God oh -

"Not to mention we need our informant to give us the information on where these facilities are. She may not be willing." Darwin focused back into what the rest where saying.

Charles smiled, grimly. "Leave that to me."

"Informant? Do you mean Moira?" Darwin asked. After a tense moment, the man in front of him nodded. He grinned. "I knew she would help me. But... why didn't she recognise me?"

"Maybe it was the eyes. Looks like a damn demon possessed you." Alex jokily suggested behind him. Darwin ignored him. He had thought the exact same thing the first time he saw his ghost like reflection.

"I suggest you show him Charles." Hank said, but the man shook his head.

"I can't do that. Darwin is immune to telepathy."

"He is?" Alex leaned forward and nudged his shoulder. "Why didn't you tell us pal?"

"I didn't know." He frowned at Charles. The man sighed.

"I thought it would be wise to have someone on the team who would be immune to The White Queen's influence."

"But I thought you found us all through telepathy. With you Cyril machine." Alex said, he was leaning forward. Darwin could feel his breath down his neck. Warm. Human. He forgot what that felt like.

"Cerebro." Charles corrected. "And Darwin is only immune to direct telepathy. For instance, I can find his mind in his room, but I can't read or communicate with it directly." Darwin found that reassuring. Alex seemed to agree. He whistled and muttered :

"Lucky asshole. Can think all the dirty thought he wants." Then he spoke louder. "Wait, does this mean we're going to have to explain that sh-sugar storm of a month?"

Charles nodded. "Indeed."

It was hard to take it all in, let alone believe it. Training. Sean _flying_! Hank's experiment (cutting and slicing and stitching just to see what they can do and he did it to himself why did he do it to himself would he do it to him no Hank was a friend yes Hank was a scientist) which left him blue. A battle on a beach. Cuba. Shaw dying. Xavier lying on the warm sand, unable to move his legs. Erik betraying them. Raven following him. The clean up. The nights spent in hospital. Wiping Moira's mind clean to save them all.

Once it was told, he was speechless. "Wow." He finally got out. His mind was still trying to process it all.

"Wow indeed." Charles mimicked, dryly.

"And... wow." No doubt Alex was rolling his eyes behind him.

"Sleep on it, you will no doubt feel better in the morning." Charles suggested. "It is a lot to take in at once." While he did not dismiss him like he did Scott, Darwin knew that was his cue to leave. He stood up, taking a step towards the door, before turning around.

"Thanks for, y'know, _saving the world_. And getting me out of there."

Charles nodded his head. Modesty? Maybe. He left. Only once he was outside did he realise Alex followed him out.

"Want to see your room?" The man asked with a grin. "Or do you want to go to Sean's room and upgrade that all hospital gown look you're rocking?"

Darwin blushed. He had completely forgot he was only wearing the scrubs that place gave him. Luckily its back did up. In fact, he had got used to how they felt - they were the only thing he had worn since his rebirth.

"Sean's smaller than me." Well, he was last time he saw the guy. For all he knew he might of shoot up to 6" and grew some muscles.

"I'm please you're alive and all, but not enough to give away any of my clothes. And don't give me bull about giving it back. I leant Scottie my hoodie once and he's never returned it. Not that I want it back now - I'll never get his stench out of it."

Darwin rolled his eyes as Alex led him up the stairs - fitted, Darwin noted, with a wheelchair lift - and through a maze of corridors. Each time he thought there couldn't possibly be another room, they'll turn around the corner and more doors would line the walls.

"Where's Sean now?" He asked, half dreading the answer. But with the amount of money Charles clearly had, he found it hard to believe they would make him wear a dead man's clothes. And surely they would of mentioned it during the explanation they gave him.

"Lucky asshole inherited a castle in Ireland. Probably getting high with the leprechauns right now!"

"Did I miss the part of the mutant gene which makes you rich?"

"You and me both. We're living the high life of mooching."

Darwin shook his head. "I should still have my cab. I can start working again when I get the all clear."

Alex said nothing. Darwin scanned his words. Did he say something wrong? Or was he just misreading the heaviness in the air? Turns out living in a cell with no contact with other people (unless they cut and stitch and slice and laugh and) ruined your social skills. He opened his mouth, trying to find the words to say what the fuck just happened. _Work this one out genius_ his mind hissed at him. Just as he settled on the perfect way to phrase it, Alex pushed open the door.

"We're here." He grunted.

Sean's room was impersonal. Walls bare with no private items anywhere - except the bong leaning against one of the bed posts. He must of taken everything with him when he went to his new home. Alex flopped onto the bed, wrinkling up the perfectly made sheets.

Darwin made his way to the draws. The first held boxers and socks. He closed it without taking anything out - he hadn't fallen so low as to wear another man's underwear - and opened the second. This one was full of t-shirts. He searched through, trying to find the biggest one. He settled on a black tank top that looked like it would stretch over his torso. Below that was trousers. The kid was two waist sizes too small. Sighing, Darwin just picked a pair out at random. Then quickly put the hideous green and yellow stripped trousers back again. His second choice was better : a pair of elastic waist shorts. He stripped himself, unfussy about changing in front of Alex, and put on his new clothes. The shorts dug into his stomach promising to leave red marks.

"You can buy some new clothes," Alex said, voice bitter, "When you've left."

Oh. _Oh._

He was annoyed because he thought Darwin was going to leave at the first opportunity. He couldn't fault the man, that was Darwin's plan. All he wanted to do was get back to his old life and forget about Division X and his death and every other fucked up thing that happened since. Alex probably thought he was going to stay. Join their mutant family in the sticks.

Darwin shuffled on his feet. "I could be here for a while. At least in till this Trask thing has blown over..." He tried, weakly.

"What's so good about home?" Alex muttered, looking down at his hands. Darwin didn't know if he was meant to answer that or not.

"Family. Friends. A life where I'm not blown up?" He suggested. Alex's frown deepened and Darwin wondered if the other man's home had given him any of those things. He was, after all, living away from it with his kid brother. That didn't scream happy families, and Darwin would know.

"World's not as safe for mutants as the one you left. And you don't exactly pass anymore."

Darwin laughed. A single cold ha without a gram of amusement in it. "The world's never been safe for people like me. Now I think I'll follow Charles' advice and go to bed. If you would show me my room..."

They didn't say another word to each other.

*

He thought it would make him clean again. But no matter how hard Darwin scrubbed at his skin under the constant stream of hot water he couldn't wash it off. He could smell it, anti-sceptic and fake air and _pain_. If he was anyone else, he would be bleeding by now. He wished he could. Maybe if he scrapped his skin off, he would grew a new outer layer (he knew he would grow a new outer layer, and oh God, you asshole, he wished he didn't) and then he would be new man as well. What they did wouldn't of happened.

He turned off the shower, stumbled naked out the tub. Looked at himself in the mirror. His first mirror in... he didn't know. Why the hell didn't he know? Why did nobody tell him? He didn't even know what fucking year it was! It wasn't his first reflection. He could see himself in that glass that didn't break no matter how hard or long he smashed at it. It made him look like a ghost. Not really there.

He had hoped it wasn't true, but it was. His eyes were white. Milky, like he was blind. He lent in closer, trying to see if any hint of his normal dark, almost black, brown was underneath. Nothing. He didn't know if he was reborn like this, with those strange, scary eyes that weren't his own, or if they did it to him. He couldn't remember. All he could remember was pain and hurt and oh God _please_. He was good at locking all those memories up. At least, he said he was.

And his body. Smooth. No hair at all. He thought that was to do with his resurrection. What would the lab gain from shaving him clean everywhere every day? Before he would shave in the morning and he'll have a five o'clock shadow at noon. Now he had no hair.

And he could see every inch of his body clearly. And it was wrong wrong _wrong_. He had a birthmark on his hip, a blob of brown that was lighter than the rest of his skin. Now it was gone. He barely paid any attention to it before, now he missed it. It was a part of who he was, and now it had been wiped away like it was never there in the first place.

Above his eye, he had a scar. Thin, old and white. He got it as a toddler. He'd been screaming, and his mother slapped him in annoyance. Her wedding ring caught his flesh and ripped. She didn't wear that wedding ring anymore. He didn't have the scar either.

 And the scars that should be there. They cut and sliced and dissected. They cut open his chest while he was still awake, and he couldn't move and his heart was deep red and it kept pumping still attached even though it was in a blue gloved hand and they laughed as he watched it keep him alive and he wanted it to stop going, contracting on it to stop because then maybe he could get some peace and oh God oh God oh God oh -

And his chest was bare. Smooth. The scar should be thick, ropey. He'd seen the chests of people who had heart surgery. It stuck out, a pink colour that would show up on his skin easily. Each side they have the stitches, small white dots, not quite in line with each other. And it should be there. He needed proof that it happened. That he hadn't gone insane. The cuts and the sewing and the hurt. It might as well of not happened.

Only in his head.

His power couldn't fix that. Couldn't adapt to the psychological implications of showing a man his own heart and laughing as they do it and oh God oh God oh God. All the scars and pain and past that should be written on his body was etched in his brain. Sliced deep with their scalpels. Only...

Was it still his brain? Was it the one he was born with? Darwin - Armando Muñoz, his real name, the one nobody had called him since he was sixteen and left the hell of his house and school (only hadn't The Man called him that. _Mr. Mu_ _ñoz_. Always mocking. Oh God his smiling face that promised only pain and horror and ) - was he still him? His brain had been reformed and made again and oh God, was he not the same man? Would they even recognise him now if he went back? Would anyone still love him? He was taken apart and rebuilt and none of him remained.

Just a ghost in the mirror that was not him. And one moment he was looking into those milky eyes and the next he was smashing it and his hand hardened and glass was everywhere and he didn't _bleed_. He wanted to see red. His blood. His life. Draining out of him because of his choice. Not someone else's. He wanted to cut and slice and hurt and know it was him doing this and the scars stay behind and it be him him _him_.

The ghost in the mirror was now a thousand strangers, looking at him with those milky pale eyes. He collapsed to the floor, the ghost copying him. He pulled his knees (are they still his knees? He needed them to be his knees) to his chest. Rubbed skin on skin.

He cried.

He hadn't cried in (oh God he didn't even know what year it was) years. Not when they showed him his still beating heart. Not when they beat him because he was just a filthy mutant. Not when they left him for weeks in his cell. But now he did. Thick, hot and nonstop. He let it all come out. And then it was done, and he couldn't cry anymore, and he was just an empty shell of a man who used to be Darwin.

Calmly, he took the mirror down from the wall, and scrapped all the broken glass from the floor. He took it to his bedroom, placed it at the back of his wardrobe and shut the door. He lay in the bed (it was so soft so comfortable and he forgotten beds could be liked this) and closed his eyes. He filed what just happened away, locked the door and threw away the key.

Along with all the other memories. And just like with them, he knew they would just break out again.

*

Miguel's lips on his. Hands of waist. Pulling him closer. Desperation. _Love_. Darwin could feel him smiling against his mouth. Kiss harder.

_I've missed you_ it said _I've missed you. I've -_

Gone. Pulling back. Too soon. Whimper. Beg. Miguel's smile turned to a frown. Shaking his head, dark eyes troubled.

_What's wrong?_ Except he couldn't speak. His mouth sewn together. Miguel was moving away. He reached for him. Floor. Skidding away. _Pushed_ away. Looking down at him.

"You're a freak."

_No!_ He screamed silently. But Miguel turned his head away. And then he rippled. Black skin turning blue. Black hair turning red. Raven. Mystique. Face in mock sadness.

"They'll never accept you. We will." She held her hand out to help him out. Delicate, blue. The wrong hand. The wrong person. He didn't take it. Looked behind her instead. Erik. Angel. Azazel. Emma. And Shaw. Grinning at him, a hole in his head and dried blood down his face.

_No._ He shook his head. He got on his feet. Moved away. No matter how far he went, she was still the same distance away.

"Your loss." He turned away. Away from her disappointed eyes. They looked so much like his momma's. And he found himself looking at Charles. Behind his desk. His old head teacher's desk. Frowning down at him. Each side stood Alex and a blue Hank.

"I'm very disappointed in you. But really, what should of expected? People like you just don't belong in a place like this. With your gifts I thought we could look past your faults, but I was clearly wrong."

Charles began to blur. A bright light behind him, getting closer. His limbs felt heavy. He wasn't adapting. A cold steel table against his back. A face, covered in a surgical mask looked down. Scalpel in hand.

"Do you think it'll recover from having it's heart removed?" One asked, looming over him.

"Let's find out." The other laughed. The blade came closer. His heart pumped. Faster. Faster. Faster. But as the metal touched his skin he was sitting on the floor. Smoke billowed around him. Making it hard to see. But he knew where he was. A gold crucifix hung in front of his face. Spinning, spinning, spinning.

"Confiesa tus pecados." He still couldn't reply. His arms reached up. _Pap_ _á!_ The cross fell to the floor. The smoke thickened. Suffocating him. Clogging his throat. Burning his lungs. He wasn't adapting. Why wasn't he adapting?

"He's gone." A cruel hiss that echoed in his childhood home. His momma's hiss. "You made him leave."

"Why are you leaving so early babe?"

"Nobody wants you here, just leave."

"You won't be able to leave here."

"Once you've left, got back to your life..."

*

When Darwin woke, light was spilling past the bedroom's curtains. It danced on his bed cover and face. His dreams had been chaotic, some even disturbing, but it had been the best night's sleep he had in a while. He even felt well rested.

He sat up, stretching his arms high in the air. His back arched. The clock on the side said it had already passed midday. He never thought he would have a lie in again. He grinned as he got out of bed. A _real_ bed. No. _Better_ than a real bed. Soft, the kind you can sink into and never come out of again. He'd never slept in a bed that comfy before. Maybe he could just lie back down and -

He shook his head. As inviting as it sounded, he could sleep all day, and much _much_ more pressingly, he needed a piss. He pulled Sean's clothes off the floor and put them on. The tightness reminded him that this wasn't a dream. He hadn't cracked. His fantasy world would surely be perfect. The shorts dug into his waist in a way he really didn't need right now.

He exited the room, and easily found the bathroom, remembering where it was from last night. Last night that didn't happen and he didn't crack because he was in control.

After he relieved himself in the toilet - and he never thought he would miss toilets! - he went to the sink and washed his hands. There was a space above the tape where a mirror should be. He touched the wall softly, and memories of fists and crying and not being able to feel pain came back. Quickly he pulled his hand away. Took a deep breath. Locked it up again. He exited the room and began to retrace his steps from the night before. After thirty confused minutes he found himself in front of the door he was sure led to Charles' office. For a second he just stood there awkwardly, before knocking. The man called him in immediately.

"How are you settling in? I imagine this all must be disturbing." He said, once Darwin had sat down. He said imagine. He wondered if the man had ever had to imagine how someone had been feeling before, rather than just knowing. Darwin snorted.

"Disturbing is an understatement. Less than twenty-four hours ago I thought you were all dead, only it turns out my friends are all enemies and my enemies are all dead."

"No one expects you to work it out over night. And I am sorry."

Darwin shrugged, knowing what he was apologising for. "You couldn't of known..."

"No, but I should of suspected. With a power like yours, it wasn't off the table. If Moira hadn't..." He trailed off thoughtfully. After it became clear Xavier was somewhere else, Darwin coughed, bringing him back.

"Have you contacted her yet?"

Charles shook his head. "No. I thought I should talk to you first."

"I have no information of importance."

"Nothing? No names? No idea of what they were trying to do?"

Darwin shook his head. It must be annoying for the man not to be able to find out himself. Go in and pick out what he deemed as important. "They probably weren't _thinking_ anything that could help us. Mostly they were are bunch of scientists without morals and a sadistic streak."

"So nobody let anything slip?" Did Charles not believe him? Or did he think he was purposefully holding back information? That Darwin had formed a sick connection with his torturers and didn't want to rat them out? Or was he just frustrated?

"Other than they hated mutants. And over time that seemed to increase. Their treatment became worse. Their tests more b-brutal." Did his voice just hiccup? The sympathy in Charles' eyes said so. He didn't want sympathy. He wanted them to do something about it. "And more people kept coming in. New equipment. And, from what Moira said, I think they were funded by the government."

Charles sighed. "The government? I would like to say I'm surprised, but with the recent attacks I'm not."

"Attacks?" Darwin questioned.

"The Brotherhood of Mutants - they replaced the Hellfire Club. And a couple of lone wolfs. Some for more rights, some for money, and some just for the sake of causing trouble."

"So they world knows about us?"

"I'm afraid so."

Darwin lent forward onto his knees. "Isn't that a good thing? Growing up I felt so alone. Like a freak of nature. If I knew there was other people like me out there... well, maybe things would of been better."

"We all grew up in isolation."

"With all due respect Charles, you grew up with Raven. I spent my whole life terrified someone would find out and I'll be alone again."

"Of course," he said, solemnly. "It would be better that none of us would go through our mutations on our own. However, humans are already restricting what we can and can't do. But once the cat is out the bag, it is incredibly hard to put it back in. That is why I'm planning on starting a school. Teach mutants about themselves away from the prejudgement of the outside the world, but also teach them how to defend themselves against it."

Darwin felt like he was on a receiving end of a sales pitch. "A mutant only school?" He asked, slowly, not sure he was interpreting it right.

"Indeed. Mutants need a unique tailored education, and being taught with humans will only hold them back."

"But surely that's backwards? I know what it feels like to be the only one of your race at a school. How awful and lonely and _scary_ that is. But ten years ago, that wouldn't of been possible. It still isn't possible for many, whatever the law says. And  you want to encourage segregation? Surely that would just cause less understanding between mutant and humans?"

"Like I said, mutants need a different education." Darwin suddenly realised he wasn't in a debate, or a conversation. Charles was telling him his plans, and his opinion on the matter was not wanted. He was meant to shut up and nod and tell him how brilliant this all was. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Was there anything else you needed me for?" Charles must of heard the icy cold tone in his voice, but chose to ignore it.

"Yes. Hank said he would like to check if everything is OK medically with you."

He nodded. "I'll go now."

Charles closed his eyes for a second, before reopening them and smiling. "He's waiting for you. Turn left and it's the fourth door on the right. Dinner is at seven."

Darwin stood up, assuming that meant he was dismissed. Not that he need permission, he was a free man now. Just something about how Charles held himself and spoke made him forget that. A man made rich by the blood of his ancestors. As he left, Charles called after him :

"Think about what I said."

Darwin snorted. Thinking wasn't going to change his opinion.

He followed Charles' instructions and found himself in front of a metal re-enforced door. Darwin wondered how many times he blew the wooden one to dust before they introduced that feature. His mind still thinking about his previous conversation with Charles, he was barely paying any attention to knocking on the door.

After a minute of knocking he realised Hank should of answered by now. The man inside knew he was out here, why wasn't he answering? He was just thinking maybe he should open the thing himself when he noticed the door bell. Sheepishly, he pressed it, glad nobody was around to notice his blunder. His finger had barely left the soft rubber pad when the door flung open, revealing a grinning Hank. He was only wearing a pair of boxers, with a white lab coat thrown over the top. On his head perched a pair of goggles.

"I was beginning to think you got lost! Come in, come in." The Beast spun around, and that's when the smell hit him. Sterile. Metallic. And suddenly he wasn't in Westchester anymore. He was back in the lab. Arms, legs, neck strapped down. Wondering if what they were going today was going to kill him. Praying it would. Dear God, he couldn't spend another day here. Couldn't stand the pain. They were going to slice and cut and laugh and hurt and test and dissect and make it stop. Make it stop. Make it -

"Darwin? Darwin, you're at the mansion in Westchester. You are OK. You are safe. Darwin?"

He blinked, took in the calm voice. Used it to ground him. Repeated it in his head. _Darwin, you're at the mansion in Westchester. You are OK. You are safe. Darwin, you're at the mansion in Westchester. You are OK. You are safe. You are OK. You are safe._

The face in front of him was big and blue. He looked concerned. They never looked concerned. They just wanted to - _You're at the mansion in Westchester. You are safe._ They were never blue and furry. They wore masks and only sadist eyes promising pain looked down and - _You're at the mansion in Westchester. You are safe._ He reached forward, touching Hank's face. Yes, this was real. He couldn't make up that silky feeling of well kept fur. Or the warmth of flesh and blood under his hand.

"I'm OK." He finally said, when the words came. Hank didn't look convinced. Maybe it was because he couldn't get his breathing to slow down.

"Do you need to sit? Go somewhere dark?"

Darwin shook his head. He slowly raised his hand to his chest, feeling his heart beat underneath. Just the feel of the organ beating away under his skin helped him relax. He would spend long nights and even longer days just listening to it. His heart. Maybe. Possibly. He felt it slow, almost returning to normal.

Slowly he pulled himself up the wall. Looked around. At some point he had stumbled to the other side of the hall way. Hank reached his hand out to help him, but stopped before his paw made contact. Darwin nodded, desperately. He lent into the soft hand pressed against his face.

"Please. Take me - " He faded off, unsure where. Hank nodded, and began to move. Darwin allowed himself to be guided. He knew he could pull his arm free and go off on his own. Unnamed guards weren't dragging him. This walk wasn't going to end with a beating. He was going to be OK. He wanted the other man there. The living room he was taken to was large, with a comfy sofa facing a grand fireplace. A TV was placed on a coffee table, almost like it was an afterthought. He was put on a sofa, and he sunk into it. Hank took a seat next to him. It was not make for a body as big as his and the man had to perch on the edge precariously.

"Thank you." Darwin said, before taking a breath. "How did you know what to do?"

Hank shrugged. "You're not the first person to freak out in this mansion, and I doubt you will be the last."

"Oh." He thought about Cuba, and losing the use of your legs and watching a man die as a coin slowly dragged its way through their forehead. He thought about labs and slicing too. He needed to take his mind of it. He could still feel it all at the corner of his thoughts. Watching. Waiting. He shivered. "You're more confident now. I would of thought you would be, y'know, less."

Hank didn't seem to mind the change in conversation, like he knew Darwin needed it. He gave him a slight smile. "I can't hide myself. It's not a simple matter of shoving my feet into ten sizes too small shoes anymore and hoping nobody would notice."

"So, not being able to pass helps you..." He trailed off, not able to find the right word. He thought about his milky eyes in the mirror, and the look of horror on dream Miguel's face. Accept it? No, he accepted it the first time his power kicked in, his head down a toilet bowl. Admit it. He thought that was closer, but still not right. It wasn't admitting it if it was clear for everyone to see.

"Darwin," Hank said, slowly, looking the other man straight in the eye. He never thought he would look in the eye of another human again. "It's good here. Charles lets me do what I want, including hanging off the furniture. I can be myself. Release the beast, if you will. But... but in all the time I've been here, I've only left the compound trice. Once for Cuba, once to stop Scott and Alex blowing a trail though America, and once to save you. The public has never seen me. I have not even sent a message to my parents, terrified of what their reaction to their only son will be. So no, I am not more confident now. I am just better at hiding myself away."

His words rang in Darwin's ears. He wondered if he was looking at his future : hiding in a mansion, too afraid to leave. Pretending everything was OK. He shook his head. No. He wasn't going to allow himself to be intimidated by anyone. He wasn't going to let Trask win. He knew how to stay out of trouble. When to be yourself, and when that meant a beating. He knew which battles to fight. And he knew hiding from the world wasn't a solution.

"I can't do that." He told Hank. "I refuse to not live a life I want because someone else has deemed it wrong."

The other man grinned at him, showing a set of pointed teeth. "I'm glad to hear it. Now, do you think you'll be able to give some blood?"

Darwin nodded. Only blood. A small needle. No cutting and slicing and screaming and pain. "Yeah just, not in _there_."

"Of course not." He stood up. "I'll be right back."

The man came back into the room about five minutes later, a large bag over his shoulder. He wondered if Hank had brought the whole lab with him. He sat back down, and lent down into his bag. After a moment of searching, he pulled out a strange circular shaped device. He held one side and pressed a switch. It whined softly. He moved it towards Darwin and the sound changed pitched. Without meaning to, Darwin moved away. He knew Hank wouldn't hurt him (slice and cut and stitch and), but he just wasn't a fan of strange objects being pointed at him when he had no idea what they were. They could hurt and burn and -

"It's alright. It's a metal detector. Much stronger than your average, of course. On maximum strength I could count the iron particles in your blood." Hank explained, before moving it towards the other man again. This time he stayed still, letting the machine do its work. Which seemed to mostly consist of making different high pitched sounds. Occasionally, Hank would nod his head in response, or go over a patch twice.  

Finally he put it away. "Well I've got two pieces of good news." He said with a grin. "One : you don't have any mechanical trackers under your skin, and two : you're not a robot."

Darwin raised an eyebrow - or rather raised the skin where his eyebrow used to be. "Was that a fear?"

Hank laughed. He had a good laugh, deep and hearty. "You can never be too sure in this place." He put the device away, and came back out with a needle. "Can I take some blood?"

Darwin nodded, holding out his arm wrist up. He kept his eyes adverted as Hank swabbed the area. It was probably cold on his skin, but he couldn't feel it. Just like he couldn't feel the tip of the needle on his elbow crease.

"Oh my stars and garters!" Hank exclaimed, suddenly. Darwin jumped, and turned to look at the man. He was holding a snapped needle up, eyebrow (or at least a slightly furrier part of his face which Darwin assumed was his eyebrow) raised. Darwin smiled sheepishly, and the man sighed. He bent down and brought another needle out.

"You didn't trust me, did you?" Darwin asked, grinning.

"Just planned for every contingency. Now, do you have any control over it?"

"I can try..." Hank sighed, placing the tip against his skin again.

"I couldn't ask for anything more."

Darwin's power had always been subconscious. He didn't need to think about his body coming resistant to fire, it just did when fire was present. Or rather, it worked because he didn't want to feel the pain of being burnt. If given time and the right training, he would probably be able to control it, but at the moment all he could do was close his eyes and mutter :

"Don't adapt. I want this needle in my skin. Don't adapt. I want - "

_Ping!_

Darwin opened his eyes, unable to stop a grin at the sight of Hank's disgruntled face.

"You're worse than Scott." He complained to himself. "I didn't know such a thing could be possible."

"Do you want to try again?" Darwin offered.

"Will you just destroy another needle?"

"I'm trying my hardest!" He defended. "But I just can't kid myself I want to be poked with a sharp point and have my blood removed."

"Well, I don't want to waste all my needles on you." Hank lent down, closing the zip on the bag with a sigh. "Not to mention once you're gone I've got to crawl around on my hands and knees and find all the ends so nobody hurts themselves."

"I can do - " Hank held up a paw, silencing him.

"I've suddenly got a free afternoon with only urine samples to analysis."

"Urine samples?" Darwin asked. The man seemed to pull a small glass jar out of nowhere and handed it to him.

"Thank you very much. Unless..."

"Unless?" Darwin promoted as the other man fell silent.

"Well, it might take a while to set up, but I could block your powers."

His stomach dropped. His mouth turned as dry as the Sahara. At his side, his fists turned to stone. "How do you know about that?" His voice sounded more like a hiss than anything human.

Hank looked at him in surprise, like he was taken aback by Darwin's reaction. He wanted to make him powerless. To cut and burn and destroy just to see if he would pull himself back together again. "I took more than one file."

"Destroy it."

"Destroy it?" Hank echoed. To know everything had been written down, recorded. Notes and comments on how well he performed and what they learnt as they watched him scream. It made him sick. Hank had probably read it all, while Darwin was lying in bed thinking he was safe. Eagerly taking it all in. Wondering when he could try it out. "The file may hold the answer of what they were trying to do."

"We know what they were trying to do! What they wanted to do! They're a bunch of sadist racists who want to wipe our species off the face of the planet!"

Hank nodded, eyes understanding. And that's when Darwin realised he wasn't like those men at all. Even though he was a scientist, people were not just lab rats and he hadn't sold his soul. He knew the end did not justify the means.

"Sorry." Darwin said and Hank held up his hands.

"No. I realise this must be difficult. I can destroy it if you want." Darwin thought it over. He wanted to say it was OK, he can keep it, but it wasn't and he couldn't just lie. He was aware Hank was just sitting there waiting for him to change his mind. He needed more time. He stood, lifting the jar up.

"I'll just go get you that urine sample."

He couldn't leave the room fast enough.

*

The train speed from the Salem Center to New York. Darwin leant his head out the window, breathing in the cold outside air. It smelt like industry, steel, and smoke, but it beat the haze of cigarette fumes inside. That brought back memories of his childhood - memories he would not like to revisit in a third-class carriage crammed full of every type of person you could imagine.

He held his sunglasses frames to his face so they wouldn't fall off onto the tracks. Courtesy of Alex. He didn't like them but it was one of the conditions. He wasn't allowed to stand out. He wondered how bad Scott's eyes were that he wasn't even allowed to take them off in the mansion. Of course, that was the one place you could be your mutant self, so it was probably the kid's choice. Darwin couldn't blame him, his white eyes still gave him the heebie-jeebies every time he caught a glimpse of them in the mirror.

The train kept moving closer and closer to the city. To his true home. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. He probably wouldn't recognise the place. Suddenly he was sixteen, and in the front seat of a truck having hitched his way up state, ready to start a new life. He'd been terrified then. New York. It sounded so good. A place so big he was bound to find people like him. And he did, twice. Each one changing his life's direction in ways he couldn't of possibly dreamed.

"Are you OK?"

He didn't jump. It was close, but he didn't. He had completely forgotten Alex was there with him. As his chaperone. Not that anybody was calling him that. Even Darwin liked to think he was there to help defend them both if Trask Inc. came calling, rather than someone to stop him leaving. If it wasn't for last night, he wouldn't be prodding for alterative motives, but the way everyone reacted when he said he was going to New York city made him think he was meant to ask permission first. He was twenty-one! Old enough to drink! Hell, he'd been drinking since he was sixteen and left home. Not that alcohol effected him. There were some disadvantages to adapting to survive.

He turned to look at Alex. The man was leaning against the back wall, legs spread wide to keep balance - and to take up as much space as possible. He had the air of someone who didn't use public transport a lot and liked it that way. Middle American. Not as rich as Charles, but still looked down on those lower (or at least those they believed were lower) than them, all the while still trying to put on the image of lower class tough boy. At least Charles didn't try and hide his wealth. Hell, even Hank had no delusions about himself.

"Darwin?" Alex asked. "You keep zoning out."

"I'm fine." He moved away from the window, closer to the man. "It just reminds me of the first time I came to New York."

"Oh yeah?"

"Thought it was big."

Alex laughed. "It just keeps getting bigger."

They fell back into silence. To say they had nothing in common would be an understatement. Charles he could relate to with their private education and they both knew the classics. Darwin wondered if they met at boarding school the other boy would of talked to him, or if he would of teased him like the rest of the boys. And Hank was damn clever and had been thrilled to finally discover someone who could keep up with him as he talked about science at two hundred miles per hour. Alex, on the other hand, might as well of been from Mars. Really, there was only so long you can bond about both being mutants, especially when you can't talk about it in public.

The train pulled into the station and they joined the river of people exiting. They didn't even need to know where they were going, the crowd carrying them along to the street.

"So..." Alex said, lighting up another cigarette. He was going to die young if he kept smoking them at this rate. He offered the packet to Darwin, who shook his head.

"I don't smoke." Which Alex knew because he had to keep telling him. The man put them back in his pocket.

"So..." he repeated. "What are your plans?"

"Get some new clothes." Charles had given him enough money to make Darwin feel uncomfortable carrying it around. "Maybe visit some old haunts."

Alex frowned. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"They're family."

"Do you want me to..."

Darwin shook his head. A grin forced its way on his face when he imagined the gangs reaction if he brought Alex home. A white, straight boy. They'll probably faint with the shock. "No. And don't say Charles said not to leave me alone. I can look after myself."

Alex held up his hands. "I aren't a rat."

"Good." A pause. Then :

"He's going to find out though."

Darwin sighed. "I know."

"And I'm going to blame you."

"I know."

They grinned at each other.

"See you in two hours back here?"

Darwin nodded, and then they split ways. He wondered what Alex was going to do, then the blonde was lost in the bustling crowd of people and all thoughts of the man left his mind.

It didn't take long for Darwin to pick out a new wardrobe. His old clothes were left in a grimy old public bathroom for somebody else to use. He hoped Sean wasn't too attached to them - even if he had brought them back he had stretched them out of shape. His new clothes put on, including his first pair of underwear since his rebirth. He may of gone a bit over the top. The pattern on them went far past bold and closer to blinding, and it was unlikely anyone would even see them. Which was probably for the best. Nothing turned a guy off quite like bad underwear. None of his other clothes had any colour at all. His boots and trousers were black, his t-shirt white. His other new clothes were shoved in his backpack.

After he left the bathroom, he began to make his way towards Greenwich Village. He had meant to go home. His brain flying through what he was going to say, do. How the hell to explain it all without him seeming crazy. But his feet had other plans. So distracted he didn't realise he wasn't going to the right place in till he stopped.

He was outside _The Club_. Not its real name, but nobody knew what it had been originally called. Rumour was even the owners had forgotten. It was a small place, but it had steady regulars, as well as enough fresh blood to keep it interesting. Miguel had called it "the safest place to get bummed in the whole of New York" due to the fact it had never got raided by the police in the whole time it had been established. Whatever dodgy connections the owners had to keep it safe had obviously run out. Now the place had been transformed into a poetry cafe. Like it had never existed in the first place. All those nights, laughs, kisses, gone. Now they only existed in his memories.

He had met Miguel here. His third night in Manhattan. He'd overheard two people talking about it by accident and thought why the hell not? It was the best night of his life, ending in another man's bed. In a drug filled haze, upon hearing Darwin had nowhere else to go, Miguel said he could stay with them, and, when the sun rose the next day, he kept his word. He didn't know it then, but he had found a family.

His feet began to move again. Walked the way he walked a million times. Past buildings he laughed and cried in. Alley ways he had fun with men in, breathing heavily, hands in someone else's pants. Roads he drove down in his taxi, listening to conversations not meant for him. He remembered carrying people home, holding their hair back as they puked. Drugs and alcohol never affected him, meaning he was always the "mother". They always marvelled at how he did it. He never told them why.

And then he was there. He looked up at his old home. He wondered if Miguel was up there, lying in the bedroom they once shared. If Mike still piled his stolen goods up in the corner. If Rick and Al and Mug still sang out of tune at three in the morning, off their heads.

If the picture of Mother Superior was still hung up above the mantel piece, a candle lit whenever they remembered it. Mother Superior was not his real name - that was Isaiah, but nobody called him that - but one he was given due to his wisdom and time spent on the scene. He could still remember the first time he had met him. Miguel had introduced him to the group in the main area. Mother Superior had been at the stove, wig and dress still on from the night before, swigging cheap wine straight from the bottle and scrambling enough eggs to feed an army. He looked straight in Darwin's eyes and said :

"Don't fall in love with that boy."

Of course, he did. Mother Superior loved to point out that he'd warned him. But while loving Miguel was a whirlwind, Darwin wouldn't have got off it for the world. Have got. Past tense. Had it been too long? Did he no longer love the man he spent hours planning a future with? Or was it just a slip of his mind's tongue? He could still cast up the man's imagine easily, and his heart beat painfully in his chest.

He put his hand on the door handle. But he could go no further. He wasn't a coward. He could do this. Easy. Just go upstairs, explain you're a mutant, that you died and came back, and spent the last couple of years in a lab. And they can laugh, say good joke, what really happened, and he could go back to living a lie. Or they could call him a freak, push him away, tell him to never come back.

His fingers slipped away from the knob. He took a step back. He wasn't a coward. He just didn't want to tarnish their memory of him. Hell, he didn't even know if they still lived there. He was getting himself wound up for no reason.

He turned on his heel - and found himself face to face with his old taxi. The paint work was scratched and someone had smashed in the driver side window and made off with three of the wheels but it was as beautiful as ever. He hurried forward, looking inside and wincing at the sight of the upholstery. If Mother Superior was here, he would die all over again. He was the original owner, Darwin inheriting it because he couldn't trust the others to look after him (and the cab was a him because Mother Superior would never ride a woman). Well, he was right. They'd done a damn awful job.

Darwin let out a long sigh. He thought he could slip back into his old life as easy as slipping into his favourite pair of jeans. Some nights it was the only thing that kept him going. But all this trip taught him was he couldn't. Everything had changed, including him.

He took a step away, then a voice calling out to him made him stop in his tracks.

"Mr. Muñoz!"

Nobody called him that anymore. Except The Man with his mocking voice and promise of pain and oh God is he here? No. Concentrate. The voice was too rough. Too old. Slowly, Darwin turned around. An old white man, with a deep blue uniform and hat. Great. A copper.

Darwin carefully raised his hands, showing he had nothing in them. Normally he would take off his glasses too, but he suspected the white colour would agitate the man rather than calm him down. His eyes stayed glued to the gun strapped to the man's side. Logically he knew the bullet would not hurt him, but a childhood of being taught how to react didn't just fade away. He kept his face calm.

"Are you Mr. Armando Muñoz?" The man asked, stumbling slightly over the Spanish pronunciation,  and Darwin didn't know why he didn't just run the moment he heard that name.

"Yes, sir." Polite. Respectful. This wasn't going to end well.

"I'm going to have to ask you to come with me, Mr. Muños."

He wished he would stop using the name. The office reached forward and Darwin was grasped with panic. He couldn't be locked up again. They would send him to Trask. Why did he come home? Of course they knew he would come home! Now he just put his friends and family in danger. He was meant to have an I.Q. off the charts and he made a rookie error. He couldn't go with them. He'll rather die.

So he turned and ran.

He wasn't surprised to hear the first shot ring out. Or the second or the third or the fourth. One bounced off his shoulder, the other his lower back. Aiming at his main body mass. Hoping to get him down. Didn't Trask tell the police what they was dealing with? He could hear the man calling down his radio, a string of codes and words that Darwin couldn't work out and didn't much care. All he knew was he had to get out.

He ran into an alley, glad he knew the streets so well. A kid was tagging a wall. Upon seeing him he swore. "Hadda bring the pigs this way asshole!" He yelled after Darwin, throwing his cans down. Another shot ran out. Darwin ducked automatically.

He got to the end of the alley way. Left, more cops coming. Shit. He skidded right. He could hear sirens. Was the whole precinct on his case? He needed to get to a populated area. Full of rich white people that the police wouldn't dare hit. He ran down the road, damn glad he didn't need to breath. But he still wasn't going fast enough.

Sure, Darwin had ran  from the men in blue before. He tried to keep his head down, and mostly he did. Course, his friends seemed to have other ideas. Sure, it wasn't their fault the only way they can make money was to sell themselves on the street, or they were addicted to smack, or they liked to wear women's clothing. It was completely their fault when they tried to pick up a copper in a male public toilet and suddenly he's running down the street just because he knew them and they're whooping like this was the damn time of their life and he knew he wouldn't be killed but he also knew what it was like to fix a smashed in face of someone he loved.

He jumped over a car. And for Darwin, that meant sail over the highest point of the vehicle and land like a cat the other side. Another code shouted down the radio. 10-10-M. That one was new. Since when did having a mutation become a crime?

He was down another alley way, grab hold of the fire escape. Pull himself up. Kick a plant pot off. Shit. Gun shots. Keep moving up. Are they following? Probably. Keep running. Faster. Faster. Oh God, he should of stayed in Westchester. He wished Alex did his damn job properly and was somewhere close by. Ass hole was probably in a bar right now chatting up a prostitute. On the roof. Don't stop running. He can jump far enough. He can if he wills it.

 And for a second, he was flying. Cold air hitting his face, wind whistling past his ears. He wanted to keep going up and up and up. But he didn't. He fell, legs strong enough to catch him smoothly and he's running to the end of the roof and he jumps again and again and again till he's in an area he didn't know very well and there wasn't a siren in earshot. He jumps down into the alley way, dropping ten storeys and landing on his knees.

Darwin takes a deep breath, pulling his clothing down. He was OK. He was free. And he was going to stay that way, even if it killed him. He walked out onto the busy street. He brought a baseball cap from a busy street stall and pulled it low over his face. He made his way back to the station.

Alex asked him how his trip to New York City had been on the train back. Darwin said uneventful.  The other man gave him a knowing smile, but for once in his life knew to keep his damn mouth shut.

*

"Are those two trying to kill each other?" Darwin asked to Charles. He wouldn't in the least be surprised if the answer was yes. Every time he saw Alex and Hank together they seemed to be at each other's throats. Mainly because Alex's secondary mutation was kicking a man while he was down. However, he found it hard to believe Charles would just watch as they murdered each other on the front lawn like it was entertainment.

"Don't worry," Charles said, mildly as he watched them, "It's just a training exercise." Hank launched Alex across the perfect grass with a beast like grin.

"Training?" Darwin queried as Alex pulled himself up, mud smeared on his face, and shot a burst of blinding red light at his opponent - who easily back flipped out the way.

"You'll have to do better than that to vanquish me, my flammable friend!" Beast taunted, sounding exactly like a bad forties super villain. Eloquently, Alex gave him the middle finger in reply. Not what a forties hero would do at all. Then he fired again.

"I believed it would be wise to brush up on our skills before raiding another of Trask's labs." Charles continued explaining.

"So you got in touch with Moira?" Part of him thought the other man wouldn't get the courage up to do it. Mind wiping an ex! That is definitely something to be ashamed of. However, the man seemed adamant that no other option was possible.

"Indeed. She says she'll do what she can to help. However, with the heightened security she may not be able to find anything."

"What will we do then?" Darwin needed to bring them down. Make sure they could never do any of their tests on anyone else ever again. Every time he closed his eyes he lived it all over again. To think someone else was going through that as they spoke. He couldn't allow it.

Charles gave him a smile, almost patronising. "Don't worry, I have a backup plan."

He said no more. Clearly that was only for him to know. Darwin locked his jaw. Trask Industry was his tortures, it affected him more than Charles. He should know all the plans. And he didn't want any bull about not wanting to give the plan away to the enemy. Darwin was telepath proof, and would never tell the company anything.

Before Darwin could say any more, the Beast bounded past them and _over_ Alex. Grabbing the man with his feet, he spun him around, causing Havok's power to churn up the ground. Then he flipped Alex over his shoulder, taking his down and sitting on his chest.

"That is enough." Charles said, holding up a hand. The Beast bounced off Alex and held his hand out for the other man. He glared at it for a minute before taking it.

"Havok, you need to become less reliant on your powers!" Charles scowled. He didn't flinch as Alex threw his hands up in exasperation. Darwin did - he maybe damn near immortal but he knew what those hands could do.

"How the hell am I meant to win without using them! Beast is double my strength!" He complained.

"Cyclops found a way." Cyclops? Damn, Darwin really did get lucky with his code name. Well, lucky in the sense he didn't let anyone else pick it for him. He'd been Darwin since he was sixteen, and if he had his way, it would be the one written on his grave.

Alex's eyes flashed. Charles was deliberately winding him up! "Scott kicked Hank in the balls!"

Darwin couldn't help but snigger at the image of a 5"4 Scott kicking the foot taller Hank in the groin and the bigger man going down. The fighters turned and glared at him. His grin fell faster than his pants when a hot boy smiled at him.

"He thought outside the box." Charles countered, ignoring Darwin's interruption.

"What, so you want me to kick Beast in the balls too?"

Hank stepped forward. "I'd rather you didn't. The kid kicks _hard_. Not his first time at that dirty trick, I suspect, and I think I'm already infertile."

"Who'd want to have kids with you anyway bozo?"

Hank's jaw clenched and Darwin got the impression that the man was using all his self control to stop the training turning into a real fight.

"Alex!" Charles scowled, like the other man would even be slightly fazed by that.

"Whatever. I'm hungry." Alex shrugged, elbowing his way past them. Charles let him go, turning to Hank.

"I would like to apologise for - " Hank held up a hand, cutting the man off.

"I don't want you to apologise. I want him to. Someone needs to teach him some manners and how not to be a sore loser!"

"Maybe you should just download it all into his head?" Darwin suggested. It was a joke, but Charles seemed serious as he shook his head.

"Some things are better if they come to the person themselves. However, I do hope it's before Hank murders him brutally."

"Well, he better learn post haste. I'm not sure how much longer I can restrain myself." Hank said it with a grin, but Darwin could still see the hurt on the man's features.

"Now, Darwin," Charles said, "Do you want to see how you're do against the Beast?"

Darwin nodded, stretching his arms out in front of him. He took a couple of steps away from the blue mutant before looking him straight in the eye. "Bring it on."

Hank grinned, showing all his sharp white teeth. It sent shivers down Darwin's spine. Maybe fighting him when he was already pissed was not a good idea. But before his brain could decide whether running for the hills was a good tactic, Hank was leaping at him.

Instinctively Darwin ducked, and Hank soared over his head. He could _feel_ the man's fur brushing against his smooth scalp. He spun around so they were facing each other. For a moment, they just looked at each other, sizing their opponent up. No longer was the man in front of him a friend. Just someone who needed to be taken down. His mind came up with a million scenarios of how to win, and dismissed almost all of them just as fast.

The Beast moved first. He looked so big and clunky, but when he moved he was graceful and fast. Darwin barely saw him in till it was almost too late. Almost. He pulled his forearm up, to block the other man's punch. It turned to rock. Hank did not swear as a rule, but he shook his hand out like he wanted to.

"Punching : bad idea. Let's not do that again." He said to himself.

"Y'know, telling your opponent your plans isn't exactly the way to win." Darwin pointed out. Then, before Hank had time to respond, he ran forward, crashing into the man's waist. In his school, they taught rugby. An English game for gentleman, the headmaster had called it. Darwin had been a winger, small, skinny, but lighting fast, honed from years of running from bullies. He knew how to tackle someone and take them down. Of course, in his school's rugby team, none of them had been a mutant. The Beast leapt backwards at the last second, using reactions Darwin could only dream of. He lost his footing, and cursing, he fell to the floor. His face bounced off the grass.

He rolled out the way, Hank's hand missing him by centimetres. Darwin lifted his legs off the ground, rolled onto his back and using this momentum leapt up, landing on his feet like a cat. Hank jumped forward again. Darwin did the maths in his head in seconds, working out where the other mutant was going to land - and kicked his legs out from under him when he did. With an 'oof' Hank went down.

Behind them, Charles clapped. So immersed in the fight, he had forgotten the Professor was there, that this was all just a training exercise. The sound of the man's hands hitting each other pulled him back to reality.

"You are both extraordinary! Darwin, your body adapt much fast than I suspected, and Hank, you're really beginning to embrace your talents."

Darwin held out his hand for Hank, and the other man took it and was pulled up. "As long as you don't forget I am the brain of this operation." The Beast said, cheerfully. He turned to Darwin. "Though it is good to get some firsthand experience of  your power when you're not breaking my needles!"

He knew Hank didn't mean anything by it. An offhand comment. But suddenly he felt like he was being observed in his cage again. Testing him. Always testing him. His hands clenched into fists, turning to stone by his side. Testing him to see if they could make him break.

"Are you OK?" Charles asked. Darwin looked at him. He looked so concern, the worry lines etched deep in his forehead. Even without his telepathic powers he was a keen observer. Darwin nodded, trying to will his hands back to skin. It didn't work.

"Yeah. Just going to go inside." Charles nodded at him, and bid him goodbye. As he walked off he reminded himself he was free. He was never going to be a lab rat again.

*

After he dismissed himself from the fighting session, he found himself wondering around the house lost. Before long he found him outside again. He was drawn to the beating sun like a month to a flame.

Now he was exploring Charles' grounds. It was ridiculous. The grass was perfectly trimmed, the flower beds brimming with colour, the trees tall and green. Growing up, Darwin's local park had only been a tenth of this size, barely large enough to play a game of soccer in, the ground littered with needles. There wasn't even a bench - someone had stole it, and the council never got round to replacing it. He would of killed for a place like this.

He looked up at the sky. The brisk morning air was replaced with sweltering heat, the clouds gone. For most people, a day like this would be impossible to take a stroll in, but he could run ten kilometres in heat triple of this and wouldn't even break out a sweat.

He walked past the place Hank and him 'fought'. The soil was still turned up, the worst ones Alex's blast trenches. He hadn't seen a gardener, but an estate this size didn't just grow into perfection, nor could he imagine any of the inhabitants of the mansion getting down on their knees and pulling up weeds. As he walked past, he kicked the mud back into the deep wounds in the ground.

Movement caught his eye and he looked up. Hank was in the window of his lab, just staring out. If it wasn't for Darwin's heightened senses, he wouldn't of noticed him. He gave the man a wave, and received on in return. He'd bumped into the man on the way out, and asked him if he wanted to join him on his walk. Hank had refused, explaining his fur coat did not go well with this weather. Except he used words double that length. He was beginning to think the blue mutant had been merged with a dictionary and everyone had forgotten to tell him.

He carried on looking at the house, still blown away from the size. He found his room, and Alex's. The latter still had its curtains drawn. Charles' study looked out on the other side of the house, so Darwin couldn't see it from his position. He followed the lines of windows up the house, wondering how many empty rooms this house must have. Then his heart stopped dead.

Somebody was up there.

He would be able to catch them if they fell (or jumped) but it wasn't a guarantee they wouldn't be hurt. His power might make it worse, seeing as it only protected him. If he had control of it, he could probably fly up there (and stop them jumping). But he wasn't in control, and he couldn't risk it.

He set off running, annoyed he couldn't move any faster than a sprint. Sure, it was an Olympic champion's sprint, but it wasn't exactly super speed. At least his muscles didn't grow tired, or flood with lactic acid. Luckily Alex had shown him the attic already, and Darwin couldn't forget anything if he tried. (And he should know.) In less than a minute, he was pulling himself onto a tiled roof, not even gasping for breath.

Only then did he realise he didn't have the faintest idea of what to say. Scott turned to face him, eyebrow raised over his red frames. He didn't say anything, waiting for Darwin. Damn it, he should of got Charles. He could sort this kind of thing out without blinking. There was only one thing he could say.

"I jumped once." Scott blinked at him in confusion. "I just saved my momma from a house fire, and she turned around and slapped me. Called me a freak. Said I wasn't her son. I couldn't be. And my - my papá knew that too and that's why he left. And I couldn't take it. I was fifteen and my whole family hated me. So I climbed to the roof of my school - like what you're doing now - and I jumped. I didn't die. I wasn't even injured. But, before I hit the ground, I realised, this wasn't going to solve my problems. That ending my life was not the answer. You won't survive if you jump."

Darwin blinked as his speech ended. He felt exhausted. He'd only ever told Miguel all that. He looked at Scott who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"I'm, uh, not going to jump." He blurted out after a couple of long seconds. "I never was."

"Then why are you up here?" He must of looked ridiculous running up here and telling his sob story. He hoped his cheeks weren't as red as they felt.

"Thinking about stuff." Scott shrugged.

"Stuff that can only be thought about on a roof?" He asked, sceptically. He wished he could raise a damn eyebrow. Sometimes you don't realise what's really important in till it's gone.

"Kinda." Scott muttered, hunching his shoulders up. Darwin suddenly realised this was the longest conversation the two of them had had.

"Are you OK though?" Scott gave him a look that even though his thick glasses Darwin could read as stating how ridiculous he thought that question was. "Right. I'm not good at this. Do you want me to get Charles?"

Scott shook his head. "I was just with him."

"Oh. OK. Guess he's not very good at this either." He joked. Scott didn't smile. Why the hell couldn't he adapt to social situations as well as he could everything else? "Do you, um, want to talk about it?"

"I'm not going to jump." Scott repeated, which didn't answer Darwin's question at all.

"OK."

A pause. It was hotter up here on the roof than it was on the ground. The tiles seemed to be absorbing all the sunlight and releasing it back at them.

"Aren't you going to leave?" Scott asked.

"You didn't answer my question." Scott sighed. Darwin suspected he perfected that tone of annoyance on Alex.

"What question?"

"Do you want to talk?"

Scott looked at him for a minute. He seemed confused by the concept. Darwin had felt the same when Mother Superior first got him to sit down and tell his problems. According to him, the only way the world would progress was if men stopped their macho bullshit and started to actually acknowledge their feelings.

Scott walked across the tiles like a cat. Darwin suppressed the urge to jump up and help him, but he could do nothing to stop the sigh of relief escaping as Scott sat down safely next to him. Maybe he really was destined to be the next Mother Superior.

"I knew someone who jumped. He was a jerk." Darwin opened his mouth, but Scott held his hand up before he could say anything, cutting him off. "I know you aren't meant to speak ill of the dead, but he _was_ a jerk. A complete bullying asshole. They said it was 'cos he was Troubled - y'know the kind with a capital T. But we were all Troubled there, or else someone would of wanted us. So I'm not going to pretend he was an angel. I'm not even going to pretend he was alright." He gave Darwin a sheepish smile. "I'm rambling."

"I don't mind." He realised he didn't know enough about the kid to understand what he was saying. In till now he always thought of Scott as 'Alex's kid brother'. That they grew up in a white house in a white suburb, with mom and dad and never wanted for nothing. Except something went wrong and now they lived in a fancy mansion and had powers that could blow up a mountain. And for some reason they two boys had completely different accents, and neither of them were New Yorkian. He realised he didn't know either of them very well. But he was piecing it together.

"Right. OK. If you're sure." Scott looked at him, and he gave him a reassuring nod. In Scott's hand, an old toy was being played with aggressively. "He, uh, jumped from the roof of The Home - "

"The Home?" Darwin asked. "You were in foster care?"

"Nah, um, an orphanage. Alex got fostered though."

"They separated you? Is that legal?" Scott shrugged.

"Must be."

"I never had any siblings, but I imagine that must of been rough, being separated like that."

"It was OK. I thought he was dead."

Darwin blinked, sure he misheard. "What?"

"They told me he was dead. And his foster parents told him I was dead as well."

He still couldn't quite take it in. "That sounds - " Completely and utterly messed up - "rough. So how did you find each other? Charles?"

Scott shook his head. "A holding cell. He busted me out, we kept hanging out, and then we discovered we were related."

"Scott, has anyone ever told you this is fucked up."

He smiled. "Fucked Up's my middle name." Then he turned back to the edge of the roof, his face turning serious again. "I was up  there with him, when he jumped. I don't know why. And he was standing there, facing me. White as a sheet. Shaking. Scared. And he looked at me. And he said - he said, I don't want to die. And then he just leant backwards. And I tried to reach for him, but I was too slow."

"There was nothing you could of done." Darwin said, soothingly. He put his hand on Scott's shoulder. For a moment he tensed up, and for a moment Darwin thought the younger man was going to shake him off, but then he leant into his touch, like he was trying to soak up all the human contact he could before it was taken away.

"No, it's - " He huffed out air, aggressively. "I think I could of saved him. At the time, I hesitated. I thought life would be better without him. And I was right. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad. And, I dunno." He trailed off, biting his lip. "Why am I telling you this?"

"Must be my handsome good looks." Scott laughed, before realising how rude that sounded.

"Sorry." Darwin held up his hands.

"Well, you told me." It tried not to be hurt. The kid was fourteen. He didn't know anything. And, well his eyes were creepy, and he was bald.

"No, you're just... not my type."

"Well, I can't fault you there. You're not mine either. Now can we get off this damn roof before you give me a fucking heart attack?"

Scott gave him a grin, muttering scardy-cat under his breath. But he got up and moved to the window in the roof - far to carelessly for it to be safe, and Darwin watched with baited breath. But Scott managed to get down into the attic without slipping. Darwin followed, the floor boards creaking  under his weight as he let himself drop down.

On his way up, he hadn't paid attention to his surroundings. Now he gazed around the dusty, badly lit room. Most of it was just boxes, and with an attic this size, that was a hell of a lot. How someone managed to acquire so much stuff just to go into storage was beyond even Darwin's intelligence quotient. It must be a rich man thing, he decided. In the middle of this was a nest. A blanket was on the floor, a cushion leaning against a box which belong to the walls that made up the three sides. On one of these 'walls' held a lamp, the other a book.

Scott followed his gaze. "It's quiet up here." He defended, like he thought Darwin was going to tell him off, or to remove it.

"It's quiet everywhere." Darwin couldn't help but point out. Sometimes, he thought he was the only man left in the world, especially when he got lost in the maze of the house.

The kid looked guilty, biting his lip. "Yeah, but the Professor can't get up here."

"This is your hiding spot?"

Scott nodded. "Like I know it doesn't do much good seeing as he could telepathically reach up and make my come down, but it feels safe."

Darwin shuffled. Maybe he wasn't the only one who Charles made feel uncomfortable. Hank would insist the man couldn't hurt a fly, and Alex only complained because he made him do the washing up.

"Yeah, Charles is often a bit... full on."

Scott snorted. "The polite way of putting it. Now, if you mention this place to Alex I will blast you though a wall." He tapped his glasses to back up his threat. While Darwin was pretty sure it wouldn't even move him, he still nodded seriously. He mimicked zipping his lips closed.

"He'll never know."

Scott nodded gracefully. "Growing up I was told people like you weren't nice, but they were wrong. If the whole world was like you I think it would be a better place."

Darwin guessed he was talking about the fact he was black. He smiled, showing his teeth. "Imagine a world full of Darwin's. That would be - "

"Terrifying?" Scott suggested.

"You just said the world would be a better place!"

Scott laughed. "I change my mind."

*

Scott and him had spent the whole afternoon together. Mostly it involved eating an unhealthy amount of cereal and competing in a pinball championship which Alex joined in for. Sean had 'acquired' the machine sometime after Cuba, and was now set up in one of the living rooms. Apparently Scott wanted to get a pool table, but Alex said nobody would want to play with him as he could easily kick everyone's ass. He thought darts would be better. (Scott said he was good at darts too and Alex said he would make him wear a blindfold godamnit.)

They were both dangerously competitive. Darwin's power apparently didn't adapt to pinball and he was out first round. Both Summer's brother could play each game for a ridiculous amount of time. To his surprise, it was Alex who seemed to think he had something to prove. He also kept claiming Scott was cheating, when he obviously wasn't. Hank had joined in for a game, and lasted for even less time than Darwin. The man threw up his hands as the brothers laughed at him, and said he had to go back to his lab. (And Darwin began to think of pain and cutting and slicing, but Scott seemed to realise and he asked the man and if was OK, and if he wanted to take his go. Darwin failed miserably, but he thought Scott would of been a good older brother.)

Now they were sitting around the dinner table. When Charles first explained the rules, Darwin had thought about the dinner times at his school. They were noisy, brutal affairs, made worse by the fact he never had any friends. He always sat on a table on his own, everyone else keeping a five seat radius away from him like they thought they were going to catch something. But here, it was more what he imagined a family dinner to be like. Laughter and chats about their day, usually ending in Scott and Alex throwing food at each other.

Alex was sitting across from in at the table, and was dubiously sniffing his spoon full of broth. Then, he carefully took a sip. His face turned into a mask of surprise. "Are you sure _Hank_ cooked this? The furry blue one who malts everywhere?" He asked, before taking another cautious sip.

"I do not malt e _verywhere_. I can hardly be blamed, it's the summer season! And I don't complain about the blonde hairs you leave all over my lab!" Hank countered. Alex scowled.

"I don't leave hairs about! And I've never stepped into your dungeon of horrors!"

"You're wrong on both accounts. It's so bad, I'm wondering if your family has a history of male pattern baldness."

"There's nothing wrong with a bald head." Charles piped up. Darwin nodded his head in agreement.

"Oh _please_ Prof. I know all about the wig you wore!" Alex laughed. Charles' face turned pale.

"Damn it, Hank, that was meant to be a secret." He glared at the blue man, who looked down at his stew and muttered about being cornered. "Well, I realised a bald head made me look dignified, and improved my telepathy no end."

"And, it looks like it's coming back into fashion." Darwin reinforced the argument with.

Scott laughed suddenly, making his first sound for the whole meal. Four pair of eyes turned to look at him. In response, he shoved another mouthful of stew in his mouth.

"Why did you laugh?" Alex demanded, eyes narrowed. Still sensitive about the whole bald thing. Scott looked up innocently. Probably doing puppy dog eyes behind those red glasses.

"I didn't."

"Scottie, you're a sh-awful liar. Now tell me before I make Chuck read your mind."

"I just - " He laughed again, stew spraying into his bowl. "I just imagined Hank hairless."

Now it was the Beast's turn to be stared at. Darwin had always thought Hank without hair would look like Hank from before. But as he looked at the man, he realised his change was more than a coating of blue fur. He would look more like a shaven gorilla. The image was so absurd, Darwin couldn't help but laugh. The glare he was given just made him laugh even more.

But as the laughing around the table increased, Hank ended up joining in. He raised up his finger as it went down to quite sniggering.

"Nobody shave me tonight, _Alex_." The man in question threw up his hands.

"Me?" He asked, like the very thought offended him. "Scott was the one who suggested it!"

"I know Scott wouldn't do it." Hank pointed out.

"I'm offended. Anyway, we all know I'll just put hair removal cream in your shampoo." Then started another round of laughs as Hank sunk his head into his hands.

The rest of the meal carried on in his good humour. They had another laugh when they discovered Hank had managed to burn the stew onto the bottom of the pan hence nobody could have seconds.

"I knew it was too good to be true." Scott muttered as he scrapped the blackened gunk off the metal with a sigh. "And it tasted so good too."

Alex turned to Darwin, an intensity in his eyes that said this wasn't a joke. "Please, please, _please_ say you can cook."

He wanted to tell them the truth, that he was as bad as Hank, but he couldn't see their hopeful faces drop. They were like puppies! He sighed, rubbing his hand over the back of his head. "I'll see what I can do."

Alex slapped him on the back. "That's my man. We are going to be feasting tomorrow!"

Oh, they were going to be in for a surprise.

*

Darwin didn't know how he got in here.

Well, that was a lie. He knew perfectly well how he got here. He walked out his bedroom, down the stairs and through the corridor in till he reached the lab's door. Then he opened it and stepped inside.

The real question was, how could he just stand there as he breathed in the smell that was wrong wrong _wrong_.

He knew the answer to that as well : because he had to.

He couldn't be a lab rat again. He couldn't let them cut and hurt and oh God oh God oh God. He had to stop them. Even though he knew it was Hank and Charles and they were nice people. They were mutants like him and if he couldn't trust his own kind, who could he trust? Then he thought about Scott, who was just a kid and didn't deserve any of this, and Hank cutting into him and he couldn't let that happen. And he thought about himself and Hank cutting into him and his skin turned hard because he won't go through that again. He wasn't a lab rat. He was free.

He moved forward, softly. He didn't make a sound as he approached Hank's lab table. Long, cold, and oh God oh God oh - No. He had to stay focused. He kept moving. Filing cabinet. Perfect. Locked. He smashed his fist into it. The lock snapped.

Pull it open. Hank - Hank was good, remember, a friend, he didn't want to hurt him - was keeping files on them all. CassidyS, DarkhölmeR, LehnsherrE, McCoyH, MuñozA, SummersA, Summers ~~P~~ S, XavierC. He ripped them out, threw them on the floor. They fell open, paper flying everywhere. He didn't look at the papers that landed ink side up. He didn't want to know what they said.

Blood, urine, and he hoped that wasn't what he thought it was, were all on the walls, the table. Under microscopes. Strange hypos full of liquid. Test tubes.

He was not going to be a lab rat again. And neither were his friends.

The mantra of Hank is a good man was drowned out under his own screams of pain.

He pulled a lighter out his pocket. He took it off Alex. He'd planned to do this, even if he wasn't aware of it consciously. He needed it all destroyed. Hank wouldn't. He lied. He said he would destroy it. He was just waiting for the right moment. He was going to lock them up and cut and slice and hurt and -

Hank was a good man.

Did it matter? Was he going to slip in the name of science? Darwin couldn't take the risk.

He flicked the lighter, the gas catching first time. He knelt down, lighting up the files. The paper caught quickly. Spread. And suddenly the spark was an inferno. And he was in the middle of it all. Something was ringing. An alarm. He found that funny. He laughed, but his voice sounded wrong.

_I've won Trask_ , he thought. _I'm free_.

And then there was a hiss of a fire extinguisher and yelling and he was being pulled away by a man with white arms and blonde hair, and he was out the lab and out the house and Alex was shouting at him and calling him all sorts of things. And then he was pushed off, and another face was there and it had dark brown hair and glasses.

Darwin reached forward. He wanted to take the glasses off. He thought Scott would look better without them, but the boy moved out his way so he couldn't reach. He was panting slightly, and he smelt like smoke.

"You're OK." He said, soothingly. "You're at Westchester. You're safe."

And Darwin laughed and leant forward, and said, "I'm free."

Scott nods. "Yeah, you're free."

Another voice orders him away, and Darwin sits up his eyes following the boy as he moves back to the mansion. The house isn't burning. That big ridiculous house that was much too big for one man to own wasn't burning. Black smoke trailed out the windows of Hank's lab, but it was OK. Darwin told himself good. That he didn't want to destroy the place. He thought it was true.

And Darwin was just sitting on his own in the grass. It's cold, dark. He fell back. Saw the stars that he never looked at before he was trapped in hell and he suddenly found he missed them. He wanted to be like them. Bright and far far far away from here. And already dead.

He shook his head. No. He couldn't die. That wasn't how to solve his problems. He tried that. He knew that. The only way to do that was to burn Trask to the ground.

He wanted to be like the stars in the sky. Bright and far far far away from here. And burning to give life. 

*

"Why did you do it?"

Darwin looked at Charles. They were sitting in his office, all the lights on. He was tired, the bags under his eyes so dark they were almost black. Darwin shuffled uncomfortably under his glare.

"I couldn't be a lab rat again. Just knowing _everything_ they did was in that lab, ready to be recreated and tested and I couldn't do it again. I thought it would be better if it was just all gone."

"Do you not trust Hank?" Charles asked in confusion. Darwin sighed.

"No. You don't understand." The man leaned closer to him.

"Try to explain it to me then." It must be frustrating for him. Anyone else he could just pick it out and understand exactly what they were going through, but not with Darwin. So now he had to do it like the rest of them.

"I know Hank is a good man. My friend. But he's also a scientist. And, well, you can't be both. Be good and a scientist. And all that information. You can see how e _xcited_ he is by it. He wants to try it all out. And I can't let him. Because I need to stay free. And I need to make sure that what happened to me never happens again to anyone. And because he is my friend, and I know if he went down that path, if he lost his morals, he'll wake up one day and hate himself. And burning his files means it will be harder for him to do it. And..."

Darwin stopped. For a minute they sat in silence, before Charles promoted him. "And?"

"I can't be free knowing everything they did to me is written down there. For other people to flick through and find out about me. And if that information hurt other people it will all be because of me. And now it's all gone. I was wrong."

"Wrong?" He cocked his head to the side.

"I don't feel better. Nothing's changed." Darwin's head fell into his hands. He squeezed his eyes shut. Pressure seemed to come from inside his head. A constant boom-boom-boom. "I won't do it again."

"Darwin, you're allowed to break down. It's been three days."

"Eighty-six hours and fifty-two minutes." Charles' hand reached forward. Warm flesh against his shoulder. Stroking. And Darwin had forgotten what a kind touch was. He leant into it. Just like Scott did earlier today. (Was that today? It felt like a lifetime ago.)

"After I lost the use of my legs, I found the world impossible. And I began to drink. I'm amazed they stuck around. I swore and cursed and was a ungrateful for all the help they gave me. I didn't want to admit things had changed. That I couldn't go up stairs, and shops were suddenly a mountain and that I couldn't drive. Oh, I missed driving. But Hank, he stayed. He fixed up ramps and stair lifts. Gave me pamphlets about special cars. And was a friend. Even after all I done. If it wasn't for them, I would still be lying in my bed, a bottle of drink in one hand.

"Recovery doesn't come easy. It's never quite done, the smallest thing can drag you back. And the world is not the same afterwards. I dream about the days before Cuba. When I used to go to pubs and it was Raven and me against the world. I still miss those days, and I think about them constantly. But I don't stay in them. They are not a haven, but only the past. You need to realise there is a future, and it is worth it. Some days, I forget this. I lie in bed and wonder what is the point. And I think about Scott and Alex and _you_ , and if I didn't keep living, I wouldn't of been able to help you. We wouldn't be talking in this office right now."

Darwin absorbed his speech. Taking it in. _Recovery doesn't come easy. The world is not the same afterwards._ It's not what he wanted to hear. He wanted Charles to say that everything was going to be peachy, he just has to give it enough time. But it was the truth. And it was important : he was not alone. In the labs it was easy to think you were the last mutant in the world. Hell, the last person who wasn't a sadist. But here he had people. And maybe they understood. Not exactly what he been though, thank God for that, but maybe they could help. They will stick by him.

 "So... what you're saying is, this is all your fault?"

Charles chuckled, swiping him softly on the shoulder. Darwin found himself smiling too.

*

Darwin had never sat and watched a sun set before. He'd stumbled home at 5 am in the morning, carrying a paralytic friend home, but that wasn't the same. In the city, you could never really see the sun rise, high rise buildings were in the way. But here, in the country, he could see for miles.

He lent back on the hill, a bowl of cereal next to him. People always said seeing the sun rise would change your life. Darwin had always thought that was a load of bull. Your mutant power coming out for the first time changed your life. Finding out you were gay changed your life. Falling in love changed your life. Sun rises seemed unimportant compared to that. But he was going to give it a go.

"You're facing the wrong way." Darwin jumped, and craned his neck around. Alex was looking down on him. Rough didn't even begin to cover how the other man looked. Hair was lank, clothes covered in dust and he smelt like burning chemicals. Darwin shifted nervously. All his fault.

"What?" Darwin asked, unintelligently. Alex plopped down next to him.

"You're wanting to see the sun rise, right? Well, you're facing the wrong way."

"I am?"

"Uh-huh. Rises in the east and sets in the west. Didn't you do scouts?"

"No." Darwin replied, truthfully. He didn't even know people really did that.

"Aren't you going to turn around?"

"Nah. I'm not that fussed." Alex snorted. He picked up Darwin's bowl and began to shove the cornflakes in his mouth. Normally he would complain, but he was still feeling guilty about the whole fire thing, not that Alex seemed to be blaming him.

"Yeah, it's not that good. Just the sun set but in the reverse." He spoke with his mouth full. Flakes flew across the lawn.

"So you normally get up to watch the sun rise?" Alex didn't strike his as that kind of guy. He always thought Alex was a lazy ass who didn't get up till three p.m. on a good day.

"Nah. Only done that once. Waste of time."

"Why?"

"I told you, it's a sun set in reverse." Darwin wasn't sure he actually believed that. He shook his head.

"I meant, why did you wake up to see it?"

"Oh. Same reason you are here now."

Darwin sighed. He pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his face against them. Next to him, Alex threw down the now empty bowl and lit up a cigarette. "I missed the sun light. I want to live life again, y'know, remember why I need to keep going on." _After Trask is destroyed._

"I thought the same." Alex said. He blew smoke into the air. It got caught in the breeze and floated up and away.

"And?"

"Well I'm the same loser I was before prison. A million sunrises won't change that. But I have a brother now, a home and, well, I wouldn't go as far as to say a life, but I'm OK. You need to find that too. You can't live your life stuck here."

He raised an eyebrow - well tried to. He just couldn't break that damn habit. "I thought you didn't want me to leave."

"Of course I don't want you to leave! I'd be stuck with Professor X and the Beast and my brother. They wouldn't know fun if it screwed them. But you've been given a second chance at life. Don't waste it."

Darwin blinked. "Wow. That's deep. I didn't know you had it in you."

Alex smiled, slow and lazy. "I've got another one for you : don't burn down labs."

Darwin shuffled. "Yeah, um, sorry about that?"

"Not me you need to apologise to. The whole place gave me heebie-jeebies. I'm kind of glad you burnt it to the ground." He yawned. "Man, I'm exhausted. Want to help me get to my room?"

"How very forward of you." Alex gave him the finger.

"In your dreams." He stood up - and nearly fell back down again. Darwin grabbed him, and pulled his arm over his shoulders. Together, they turned.

And Darwin saw it. The orange sun had just peaked over the horizon, changing the dark blue sky into a million shades of yellow. The light hit the clouds, giving them a pinkish hue. Like cotton candy. The light strained upwards into the sky, turning the dark inky blue into a lighter shades. In his ears were the cry of birds, just waking up. The air was fresh in his lungs. The planet, ready to start a new day.

Next to him, Alex snorted. "Load of shit."

He was wrong. It was beautiful.

*

They were yelling.

Actually that wasn't right. Scott was yelling. The Professor was replying calmly, which meant Scott just yelled louder. Darwin didn't mean to eardrop but the whole mansion could hear them. So, he might of been standing outside the office, but his ear wasn't pressed to the door or anything. He was on his way to apologise to Hank and it caught his attention. Really, this whole thing wasn't his fault and definitely not because he was procrastinating. 

"Fix this!" Scott shouted, and Darwin wished he could see what the boy did. Then the study door opened, and he came storming out. He saw Darwin standing there and stopped dead in his tracks. His mouth was in a thin, angry line, and the man took a step back. Laser eyes came to mind immediately.

"Oh great. A fucking audience to see the freak." He sneered.

"I'm not - " Darwin began, then cut off realising Scott had already run off. He looked into the office and saw Charles behind his desk, head in hands. He looked like a broken man.

"Does that happen a lot?" It was sign of how exhausted the Professor was when he looked up in surprised at Darwin. He'd never managed to sneak up on the telepath before.

"Scott is... difficult." He finally said, his voice was quiet and stressed. "I just want to help. I knew it would take time, but I thought we'll have a break through by now."

Darwin remembered himself at that age. Sure he kept his head down, trying to stay out of trouble and not draw too much attention to himself, but he was also as stubborn as a mule. Start a fight with him, and he'll fight like a cat and dog. If he didn't raise the schools grade point average he would of been out years ago. Instead he just had to suffer through the detention and beatings. Really, it was worth it to see the headmasters face go purple.

"Being a teenager is hard." He pointed out. "Being a teenage mutant is even harder."

Charles sighed. "I just want what's best. Maybe I should - "

Darwin shook his head as the Professor began to wheel his chair around the table. "Want me to give it a go? He might appreciate it more if it doesn't come from an adult."

He looked like he was going to complain (and Darwin couldn't blame him, because who was he to give advice?), before nodding, a look of defeat on his face. It made him look older, more like the Professor his name said he was. "Maybe you will be able to convince her."

Darwin blinked at the use of the wrong pronoun, before deciding he was probably thinking about Raven rather than Scott. He imagined the girl was a firecracker in her youth, and Charles had to make sure she behaved.

He nodded a goodbye, before leaving the office. He knew where Scott would be, but still deliberately dragged his feet as he made his way to the attic. Give the kid more time to get his head together. Not so it will take longer before he apologised to Hank. He got to the top of the ladder leading up into the attic, and stuck his head in, looking around for the boy. All the lights were off, but his mutation made it so he could see like it was daytime. He spotted the boy hugging his knees in his cave. He glared at Darwin as he came over and sat down.

"What do you want?" He snarled. Yesterday, they had got on like a house of fire, now the kid looked like he wanted to set _him_ on fire. Behind his glasses, his eyes were glowing red.

"I'm just seeing if you're OK."

Scott snorted. Darwin could hear the snot in his nose. Had the kid been crying? Two emotional chats in that many days, Mother Superior would be proud.

"The Professor sent you, didn't he?"

Darwin shook his head. "I volunteered."

"Why?"

"We're friends."

"We are?" It hurt how disbelieving the kid sounded.

"Uh-huh. You saved me remember. Not to mention we took part in a pinball competition."

Scott raised an eyebrow. "That makes us friends?"

Well, no, not really. Friends came over a long period of time, when you've got to know each other. But Darwin was trying to make the boy trust him. "Yeah. So you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

"The Professor." Scott said, bitterly.

"Strangely enough, I worked that bit out." Darwin snipped back, before remembering he was meant to be in comforting mode. Scott hit him softly in the arm, a slight grin on his face. Hey, maybe he was doing it right. Then it turned serious again. He bit his lip, uncomfortably.

"He keeps making me explore my past memories and stuff to find out why I'm like this and I think it's a load of shit, y'know, but he's so sure that we'll find something and I'll be magically fixed or something."

Darwin was beginning to get a sick feeling in his stomach. He'd heard too many stories of people being 'fixed'. Some of the things people had told him made him glad nobody gave a fuck about him growing up.

"Scott." He said slowly. Carefully. "Are you gay?"

"I dunno what that means." He said, miserably.

"Homosexual?"

"Umm... The Professor calls me 'an extreme female homosexual due to the lack of positive male role models in life'." He put on a snooty accent as he said it, no doubt trying to mimic the man's English accent. So maybe the female pronoun wasn't a mistake.

"And what do you call yourself?" He prompted. Scott shrugged.

"A man. A bloke. A _guy_." Oh. _Oh_.

"You're a transsexual."

Scott's head snapped up. "I don't know what that means."

"It's like when your born one gender, but you're actually another." He winced, not the best explanation, his friends were so much better at this. Scott didn't seem to mind.

"Transsexual." He said it like it was a holy word. "Are you a _transsexual_?" 

"No." Scott crumbled next to him. He quickly carried on. "But I used to live with a woman called Alison, only when I met her she was called Elijah."

"And she didn't need fixing? Nobody did this to her?" He sounded so sceptical. He was amazed the kid fought to be a man when he didn't know there was another person in the world like him. It would of been easy to be sure you were the one who was wrong. He found himself respecting Scott.

"NO! No, no, no, _no_! She was just born that way. _And_ she wasn't the only one."

"There were more?" He sounded so excited.

"Uh-huh. But I didn't know them as well."

"Can I met her?" Damn the kid looked so hopeful. Darwin couldn't tell him that he couldn't knock on the door, let alone make introductions.

"When this whole Trask thing blows over. Yeah, I'll introduce you." The kid gave him a grin so wide his face nearly split.

"How come you know so much?"

"I'm gay. A homosexual. I like men."

"But you're not a woman?" Scott said slowly. Darwin shook his head.

"Nope."

Scott took a deep breath. "And you're not a pedo?"

" _NO!_ " Scott shuffled, awkwardly.

"Sorry, it's just - "

"That's what they teach you?" Scott nodded miserably. "I remember the first time I got a crush on a boy, he was my next door neighbour. I didn't know any of this at the time, and I thought I was going to hell. That there was something seriously wrong with me. And I spent years trying to be into women. I remember stealing a _Playboy_ magazines from under one of my dormies bed and just staring at the pictures of the girls without blinking. I thought they looked gross, but I was sure if I looked at them enough I'll suddenly realise how attractive they were. It wasn't till I ran away from home, I heard about a gay club, and I went. And I stood in there, completely blown away about how many people felt like me. For the first time in my life, I realised I wasn't alone, and it was OK. All those things people told me, they were wrong." He put an arm around Scott, pulling him close.

 "People like you and me, Scott, we got to stick together."

*

The knock on the door was a surprise. Darwin had only just arrived back in his room. Apologising to Hank had been... awkward. The man had been curt with him, which wasn't a surprise, but seemed to accept his apology. When he offered to help clean up (even though the room smelt like chemicals and even burnt they reminded him of pain and cutting and oh God) Hank quickly refused his offer. He hoped he hadn't lost the other man as a friend.

He stood up from his bed and moved towards the door. Absentmindedly he checked his fly, before swinging it open. He thought it would be Alex, or maybe Hank. To his surprise it was Charles. He gave him a warm smile.

"Darwin. I believed you wanted to talk to me." He said. Darwin blinked.

"How did you - " He stopped. "Oh. Right. Telepath."

"I did not deliberately pry. Scott was projecting. She seems very taken by you."

Darwin crossed his arms, and stood up straight. " _He_ is very taken with me. It turns out we have a lot in common, including a dislike of people trying to 'fix' us." His voice was so icy it could freeze the sun but Charles was not daunted.

"There are things you don't understand about Scott."

"Really?"

"I'm not trying to 'fix' her - as you put it - I'm trying to understand and help her."

"Help? And that's why you keep calling him 'her'?"

"Darwin, she's built a delusion in her head believing it will keep her safe. It will seriously damage her in the long run if we just pretend it's OK."

Darwin sighed. "It is OK! He thinks there is something wrong with him, and you're coming along and confirming it! You read minds, what gender is it?"

"Scott believes she is a man."

"What about Alex?" Charles frowned.

"I don't - "

"What about Alex?"

"He is a man."

"What's the difference? Does he only believe he is a man too? Or is there something written in there that makes it obvious that he was born with a penis?"

"In the mind, there is little difference between it, it is true. But the other evidence - "

Darwin waved his hand in front of the Professor's face. "Forget the other evidence. Just look into his head."

"There is a lot of doubt..."

He snorted. "Of course there is a lot of doubt. And confusion. And fear. Look past all that. Tell me, if you looked into that mind without knowing him, what you say it was a man's mind?"

The Professor closed his eyes, though whether he was exploring Scott's mind, or just thinking about it, Darwin couldn't tell. Finally he opened his eyes. They were like an old man's. Well, nobody said training a bunch of fucked up teenage mutants would be easy.

"Yes. I would say it was a boy's brain."

Darwin shrugged. "Then that's that."

He didn't look completely convinced. "About Scott, maybe."

He held up his hands. "Nope, you're not going to go all therapist on my head as well."

"I was not going to. While... homosexuality still confuses me, I have come across many minds that prefer it." He said 'homosexuality' like one might say 'man-eating piranha'. "I in fact want to ask for your suggestions."

"Suggestions?" The change of direction took him by surprise.

"I am out of my depth, you've made that much clear. And you have a... skill set that is needed here. I suspect you and Scott will not be the only people once I open the school to need unique help, and there well fair is my number one priority. I want them to feel safe."

"Bit late for Scott." Darwin muttered under his breath. Charles ignored him.

"So what are your suggestions?" He asked again.

Darwin thought it over. He couldn't just say 'stop'. The damage had already been done. No, Charles was asking him how to fill in the proverbial pot hole he already made.

"If a student came up to you and asked you to help them find a cure for their power, what would you say?" Charles frowned, but went along with the analogy.

"I would say that there is no cure. That this is who they are, and only by accepting it will they be able to start living there life."

Darwin nodded. "Tell them that."

Charles felt silent, processing his words. It probably went against everything he'd ever been taught. To tell someone to deviant from expectations. To not get an opposite sex partner and two point five kids and a nice house somewhere. To love someone who actually makes you happy. To see the status quo and tell it to stick it where the sun don't shine.

"Thank you Darwin, this has been most helpful. However, I realise I am still not the right candidate for this."

"For what?"

"To help people. You can."

"Oh." Charles nodded.

"What do you say?" He lent forward into his chair, blue eyes drilling into his.

"Yes, but I have one rule : no one - you or anyone else - will fuck this up."

The man smiled. "This school is a place of tolerance. And Darwin, thank you again."

He left and Darwin fell back into his room, exhausted. He was a teacher now. Sure, he only had one student, who was also a good friend, but a teacher none the less. All he's done before is drive taxi's. He's pretty sure it's not even legal for him to be one. And now... wow. He closed his eyes, just trying to process it. Then he sat up straight.

Shit, he had dinner to cook.

*

"The door. I'll get it." Charles put his spoon down about half way through Darwin's dinner - a big steaming pot of Pozole, only completely changed for the ingredients in the Professor's cupboard. He had never been in a house that hadn't had any hominy before! There wasn't even any of the canned stuff.

He began to wheel out. Darwin hoped his food didn't make the man crazy. For a second the remaining members of the table looked at each other in confusion. Then the door bell rung through the mansion.

"That would of been a lot more impressive if he could tell, let's say, more than a minute before." Alex drawled. He was ignored.

"I wonder who it could be?" Hank asked, who was not ignored, much to Alex's annoyance. His complaint was cut short by a piece of onion hitting him between the eyes. If Alex responded, Darwin didn't know, deciding to focus on the mature Beast, rather than the brothers' food fight with the meal he spent all afternoon cooking.

"Moira?" Darwin suggest. Hank shook his head.

"I doubt it. He would be more... nervous. I suspect he was expecting this unknown traveller."

"Who does Charles know? I mean, does he even have a social life?" He hadn't been out the mansion the whole time Darwin had been here.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Maybe he has a girlfriend." Alex butted in, red sauce trickling down his forehead. "Though you would think he would be less miserable all the time if he was getting laid..."

"I doubt if he had a partner he would bring her anywhere near you." Hank shot back.

Alex shrugged, a lazy grin on his face. "I do have a way with women."

"Yes, but making them scream and never coming back isn't the one you want." The expression on Alex's face was priceless.

"If I remember correctly, the last girl you tried to date became a terrorist to get away from you."

The Beast growled, fangs bared, and suddenly Alex's chances of getting out of the meal with only sauce on his jumper was becoming unlikely. Luckily, Charles decided that was the perfect moment to come back into the room, along with his guest.

"SEAN!" Alex yelled, jumping up and giving the man a hug, hitting him on the back hard. "Good to see you man. Why the fuck didn't you say you were coming?"

They pulled away, and Darwin could only stare at the boy - no, man - in front of him. The years had done Sean good. No longer did he look like a greasy teenager, but now rather a _hot_ young man. His strawberry blonde hair had grown out, and was tied back into a long ponytail. His puppy fat gone, revealing a chiselled jaw and strong cheekbones. And he'd been working out. Hard, thick muscle on every part of his body.

"Charlie-boy wanted t' give ye all a surprise." He had a slight Irish lilt to his accent that wasn't there before. "Hank. Looking as blue as ever. Darwin, good t' see ye."

He'd been expecting something more than _that_. Sure, him and Sean hadn't exactly been close friends, but he'd just come back from the freaking dead! Maybe Sean had been so out of it, he didn't actually remember him and was just playing along. "You don't seem very pleased."

Suddenly he was pulled out of his chair and into a bear hug which actually lifted him off the floor. If it wasn't for Darwin's mutant power he was sure it would of broken all his ribs.

"I'm over the bloody moon lad!" He cried into his ear.

"Well then, it's good to see you too." Sean laughed, his hot breath dancing across Darwin's bald head. He let go, and Darwin fell back into the chair. Sean turned to the last member of the table.

"Scottie. Heard a lot 'bout ye." He held out his hand, and after a moment of staring at it like it was an alien life form, the boy took it.

"It's Scott." He muttered. Sean's grin grew. He let go and rubbed his hands together.

"Have any spare food? I aren't eaten in hours."

"I'll get a bowl." said Charles, smiling. He held up a hand as Sean moved towards the kitchen. "Let me go get it. I'm sure you want to catch up with the others." As he left the room, the rest of them sat back down on their chairs.

"What's with the accent?" Alex demanded.

"It's _me_ accent. I was barely back for a week when I caught it again - and this time I'm not planning on losing it! Anyway, we talked two weeks ago!"

"Doesn't sound quite that strong down the phone."

"Aye. Nothing quite beats talking in person." Charles came back in with a bowl on his lap, and placed it in front of Sean. Hank leant over and filled it full of Darwin's Pozole. Sean took a large spoonful. From the way he didn't spit it all out, Darwin decided he wasn't a half bad cook. "Now, Alex, ye got a job yet?"

Alex huffed air out, folding his arms over his chest. "You were lot more fun when you were  a moocher like me. Hell, if I owned a castle I would never work again!"

"I doubt you will work in till I kick you out." Charles said, disapprovingly. Alex just smiled sweetly at him.

"What do you do?" Darwin asked Sean, before the other two could get into a fight about jobs.

"Believe it or not : Interpol."

"Interpol?" Hank burst out with, looking like Sean just said he was giving sexual favours to his mother.

"Take that as a not."

"No. It's just very impressive for a - " He stopped as Sean's eyes narrowed.

"If ye say an Irishman, I'm screaming ye back to me homeland."

"I was going to say stoner!" Hank muttered quickly. "I still remember when you broke into my lab looking for painkillers."

"Me housekeeper at home was having none of that. Bloody sixth sense or something. If I even try to bring something into the house he'll give me an earful and confiscate it. I feel like a ten year old again!"

"You were doing drugs at ten?"

Alex snorted, and pushed Hank's shoulder. "Your geek is showing." He bared his teeth at the man, before turning back to Sean.

"How long have you been working for them?"

"Coming on two years now. I got back t' County Mayo and remembered why the hell I left it in the first place. A twenty minute walk t' the nearest pub is ridiculous. Not t' mention dangerous. Spent some time in Dublin. Met a girl. Did some work in Europe. And then Charlie's phoning me up and saying he needs me help. So here I am, praying whatever trouble ye lads get me in doesn't get back t' me superiors over the pond!"

"Well I can't promise you that," Charles said, uncomfortably. "But I can say you'll be helping your race."

"Don't need t' convince me t' join. The moment they hurt an X-Man it became personal."

"X-Man?" Darwin questioned.

"Ye didn't tell him?" He did not like the look of Sean's grin.

"The X-Men. Our team." Alex said.

"Team?"

"Like the Avengers!"

"So... we're superheroes now?" Darwin said slowly. This felt like a kind of big thing not to mention to him.

"Matching uniform. Code names. Super awesome yet dangerous powers. Not to mention we _saved the fucking world once_. Sounds like a superhero team to me." He'd never heard Alex sound so proud before.

"So you fight crime?" Yeah, he still wasn't quite convinced. The silence that answered him seemed to agree.

"We saved you..." Alex finally said.

"What about the X in the name? Shouldn't we be the M-Men? For the Mutant Men?"

"X for Xavier." Sean said. Charles sighed.

"No, the X is for extraordinary. Extraordinary Men!" From the tone of his voice, Darwin guessed this wasn't the first, second or third time he had to say this.

"Sure." Alex snorted as the rest of them looked at him dubiously.

"Wait." Darwin said, suddenly, an awful thought hitting him. "Do I have to wear one of those ridiculous costumes too?"

"I wouldn't call them ridiculous..." Hank muttered.

"Only to kick ass." supplied Alex. Darwin's head fell into his hands.

"Bright yellow spandex. I think I might puke."

*

"See, it looks fine." grinned Beast, as he pulled Darwin in front of a full length mirror. His was mostly dark blue, with only a bright yellow 'X' that stretched from his shoulders to his hips. It still clung to his body, and he realised why Sean began to work out. It really showed off _everything_.

"Was the target on the chest really necessary?" He asked.

"Stop whining. You can't be killed so it doesn't matter. Anyway, you want to feel like you're part of the team, right?" Alex asked. "Anyway, you're lucky. Hank only wears underpants now a days."

The Beast ignored his jab. "OK, this should work with your powers, so you don't need to worry about your clothes being destroyed in every explosion you get into."

"I'm not planning on getting in any explosions."

Alex shook his head. "You should."

He swallowed. Sure he might be immortal, but he didn't exactly want to become their canary! "OK, anything else I need to know, or can I get out of this suit?"

Sean stepped forward. He was wearing his yellow suit too. Dark blue lines stretched down the front, and Darwin could see each line was made out of tiny cross stitch. Hank really concentrated on details. He stretched his arms out, and two 'wings' appeared.

"I have one, lad : can ye fly?"

"Fly?" Darwin asked. Sean nodded.

"Aye, fly."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Never tried."

Sean's grinned. "Oh, that sounds like a challenge."

Alex shook his head. "Don't let him. He wants revenge from being pushed out a window... and off a satellite dish."

Darwin's head flew around so fast he was surprised it didn't fall off. "You were pushed through a window? _And_ of a satellite dish?"

"Aye, in the name o' science. Now it's yer turn."

Darwin thought he had done enough in the name of science but before he could think of a good excuse he found himself on the edge of the roof, looking down. He'd been up here only two days ago, but the floor didn't seem so far away before. He thought about the last time he jumped, and found it didn't feel the same. None of that worry and stress and the promise that this was going to be OK. No, now he only felt disbelief.

"You want me to jump off that?"

Sean nodded, a wide grin on his face. He was enjoying himself way too much. Darwin was beginning to think 'stoner' had been replaced by  'adrenaline junkie sadist'. "It's easy lad."

Then Sean jumped off. For a moment he let himself fall, and Darwin could all too easily see him smash into the ground. Then he lifted his arms out and _screamed_. A normal person would have to cover his ears or their drums would pop. He flew upwards, and did a loop-a-loop. He grinned down at him, giving him a thumbs up. He landed next to him, delicately.

"See, easy."

Darwin raised an 'eyebrow'.  "Here I go."

He took three steps back, took a deep breath, and ran forward. _Fly, fly, fly._ He chanted in his head as he jumped. He flapped his arms as he did, imagining he was a bird. Cold air smashed against his face. The grass, a mass of green, was getting closer and closer. He could see the individual blades.  The next thing he felt was cold mud against his face. He didn't feel his body smash into the ground. He rolled over, noticing there was now a Darwin shape hole in the lawn. He stood up, stretching himself. Sean screamed his way down to him.

"Ah, didn't quite work." He said as he landed. Darwin glared at him. Sean began to make his way back to the roof, no doubt ready to try again. He hurried after the other man. As they climbed up the stair, Darwin trailing mud that he scraped off from his clothes and face, Sean clicked his finger in front of his face. A grin promised an idea that Darwin was sure he wasn't going to like.

"I got it."

"Right, like last time 'you got it'."

"Nae, this time it will work. We need t' show yer body flying before we try it."

"And you suggest we do that by..."

Sean said nothing in till they were on the edge of the rood again. Then he opened his arms, beckoning him in with his hands. "C'mon lad, hold on tight."

Darwin sighed. He moved forward, pressed up against the man's chest. He had muscles. That was nice.

"Around the back of me." Sean ordered. "Also you might want t' cover yer ears."

Darwin followed his command. He circled him in till he was stood behind him, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Sean sighed, grabbing Darwin's ass and pulling him closer to him. He found himself pressed against a strong back, he could feel every muscle. His head was resting against his shoulder, the man's soft hair tickling his face. In his mind, Darwin did not see himself as single, he was still dating Miguel. It was just hard to keep that in mind when his crotch was pressed into another man's ass.

"Yer OK?" Sean asked. He moved his head as he said it. His hair smelt nice. "Put yer arms around me neck."

"Uh-huh." said Darwin, pulling himself closer, his arms wrapping around his neck.

Sean jumped off. Whatever sexual thoughts Darwin was beginning to get died the moment they left the roof. Worked better than a cold shower. Sean screamed the moment they left, and Darwin was damn glad of his mutation. For a second he thought the combined weight of them would be to heavy, but his wings caught and suddenly they were flying! Red hair hit his face liked whips. The cold air kept his eyes open. Below him, Sean whooped and they dropped a bit. Darwin did not scream, but his arms did tighten around the man. Below the ground sped past them. Fields, trees, parks. All green and beautiful. The street lights were little fireflies on the ground. If there people below, hurrying around, living their lives, they were too small to see.

"This is amazing!" He screamed into the other man's ear. Sean responded by doing a loop-a-loop.

"OK, ye need to let go."

Darwin froze. "What?"

"Next time I go on me back, let go." They dropped slightly as he spoke. He wished the other man would stop doing that.

"Umm..." said Darwin, but then Sean spun around and Darwin's arm let go, and he was falling again. His body smashed into the floor.

"Maybe this isn't working." He yelled up at the still flying figure. Sean grinned as he landed. Darwin glared at him, rubbing mud off his suit.

"Aye. One more try?"

"NO! It may not hurt me, but there is only so many times you crash into the ground before you give up hope."

Sean threw up his hands in annoyance before turned around. "Jump on, I'll take us home then."

*

Half an hour ago Darwin had been sitting in the first mission briefing of his life. Moira had phoned, giving them a location. She said they would have to act on it fast, it wouldn't take long for them to realise what files she took. She was making her way to Westchester on her own. Sean had suggested a quick detour to pick her up when they were told of the alarms she set off, but Charles refused the request, saying they couldn't afford the time it would take. The rest of the meeting they went through a quick plan, that Alex assured him it will all go to hell when they actually got there.

Now the jet was settling down on the roof of the lab. It was only a single storey building and the roof was a wide, flat piece of concrete. Darwin wondered why the hell they left enough space to land a whole freaking airplane on it! Sure, not many jets landed vertically, but it was a well known fact that the ones _superheroes'_ owned did. And if you had a lab packed full of kidnapped US citizens you might of planned for that. He crushed the thought that it was because they were mutants and nobody gave a fuck about them. Even superhero's didn't give a damn about those with the x factor.

Darwin undid his seat belt, and made his way down the ramp and onto the concrete. Bright white light shone down on the grounds, but the roof was pitch black. Only his heightened vision allowed him to see. He wondered how Alex, Scott and Sean did it. As a group they moved across to the roof hatch. Only a single padlock kept it closed. It was like they wanted someone to break in.

"Can ye hurry up?" whined Sean at the back, hands pushed deep into his pockets. "I'm freezing me bloody balls off!"

Alex laughed. "Interpol my ass." He lifted his hand to the padlock. It began to glow red, getting steadily brighter and brighter. Then he blew the lock to smithereens. Loudly.

"Havok, we are trying for the element of surprise." whispered Hank.

"Next time you can be on lock duty then." He pulled open the metal door, and Darwin slipped through, going first because his eyes didn't need time to adjust to the harsh florescent light. And the smell of too clean air and anti-sceptic and death hit him. He froze for a second, and all he can remember is pain and cutting and burning and oh God he can't. And then he remembered why he was there. To save people. He will get out. He was free. And he will never be a lab rat again. With a deep breath he began to move again. Confident. The rest piled in after him.

"Oh my," Hank said loudly, clearly forgetting the whole stealth idea. "I hope breaking into government labs isn't a habit we're planning on keeping."

"Only the bad ones." Alex joked.

"Aren't they all bad?" Scott asked, who was bringing up the rear. Darwin wondered who Scott was hanging out with that was making him into an anarchist. Last time he checked, the kid didn't even know who the president was. (Neither did Darwin, apparently 'some rich white dude' was not the answer - he was pretty sure it was.)  

Darwin stopped as the corridor branched into two. Due to the meeting, they split into two groups without having to say a word. Hank and Sean moved one way, Alex and Scott the other.

"Good luck." Darwin said as he joined the brothers. Alex snorted.

"We don't need _luck_."

"I feel like we may need luck," countered Sean. Alex opened his mouth, but before he could say a word, Sean held up his hand. "And if ye say luck o' the Irish I will not be responsible for me actions."

"I preferred you before you went home." Alex muttered. They went their separate ways. Alex took the front, hands in front of him. Darwin had the middle, and Scott at the back, but they didn't bump into anyone.

"I don't like this." Darwin muttered, eyes narrowed, as they swung around another corner and nobody was there. "It's quiet - too quiet."

Alex shook his head, keeping to the side of the corridor. "You're just paranoid." He whispered back.

"Bullshit. There should be guards and alarms and - "

Then he forgot how to talk. Or stand. Or think.

His limbs turned to lead. Thoughts slower than treacle. He didn't even feel the pain as he smashed into the floor. This was familiar. This had happened before. But he couldn't quite grasp where or how or why. His mouth opened and closed like a drowning fish. He was worried he was going to forget how to breath.

Shoes, black and shiny, came into view. Prodding him in the face. He wanted to roll away. He wanted to grab it. Pull it over. But his arms wouldn't move. His plans dissolving before he could finish them. Hand, big, lifted his head up. A face in view. One Darwin knew too well. The Man. The Boss. Smirk and greying hair. Darwin found he could talk after all.

"Shhh-shh _it_."

The man laughed. White teeth. Pointy. Sharp teeth. "Mr. Muñoz, where are your manners?" The words danced around, crumbling before it reached him. All he could understand was a mouth moving.

"I was beginning to think you would never come back but your friends do make up for the wait. Four new test subjects. Isn't that just exciting?" He let go of Darwin's chin and it cracked onto the ground. He wasn't adapting. They always did this first. Next will be the slicing and the tests and - The feet moved, and Darwin moved his head with it. It took all his effort and concentration just to move it a couple of degrees. And it was slow. So very slow.

"Do you want to tell your friends what's happened, Mr. Muñoz? No? So rude. I guess I'll have to explain then. A sound is currently pumping through the room - the source right next to Mr. Summers there, hence why he's drooling on the floor. I doubt he can even think, well, anything right now. Not that it seems to be making much difference." He laughed at his own joke, not caring his audience was unable to join in. Even if they could, they wouldn't. "It's distracting the parts of your brain which allow you to control your power. Unfortunately it seems to do the same to the rest of it as well."

He strolled away, closer to Alex. Feet by face. Kick him? No, he was above that. He's -

"We know all about your friends. Take Alexander Summers here. Powers deadly. Plasma charges that come out his body, mainly his chest and hands. His first victim was completely vaporised. He second - well I wouldn't of known it was once human if I wasn't told."

He moved away. Behind him. Darwin tried to follow. So hard. Why was he trying to do? He should just close his eyes. Why was he here? He wanted to sleep. No. The man. He had to look at The Man. Turn. Turn. Turn. In front of Scott.

"And Paulette Summers. Deadly optic force blasts. We've never had siblings to experiment with before. The two of you will be able to tell us so much. It's a shame this one has already been played with. I do like to be first. Damaged good are so, well, _damaged_." He laughed. Then stopped. He bent down, grabbing Scott by his hair and pulled him up. "It talks. You have to speak up."

Darwin lifted his head up slightly. It was hard. His body was trembling with the effort. Scott was trying to get on his knees. Far enough away that he could move. Far enough away from what? He was trying to - what? That looked like it hurt. Why didn't he stop? What could he do?  They were here. They were going to -

"Yoou don't know _anyything._ "

 - cut and slice and stitch and drown and freeze and laugh and punch and cook and help oh God he can't go back please don't make him go back he -

"Oh? Do enlighten me?" The Man said. Grin wide. Leaning in closer. Mocking. It promised pain. Stop. Scott didn't know. He knew. Oh God. They were going to test them. They were going to destroy them all. And laugh as they do it. He thought he was a free man. He was wrong. Oh God. Why did he come back?

"My namesss Sscoott." And red filled the room. Suddenly, The Man was gone. Flew backwards. Out his view. But the red carried on. Too bright to look at. Stumbling forward. Where to? Darwin followed the light. Cheered it on. Scott was good. He was one of them. He was a X-Something.

**_Bang._ **

The world rung. Painfully. His ears ached. Everything seemed wrong. Did bullets make the world so slow? No. That was something else. That was The Man. Scott fell. But the red continued. Not just from his eyes. The floor. Pool. Growing. _Blood_. Darwin couldn't take it all in. Too much movement. Too much ringing. Too much red. He tried to pray. He couldn't remember any. He couldn't even remember if God replied to them.

And then the world exploded.

*

If asked later Darwin would not be able to describe what getting his powers back felt like. The world, so slow, suddenly speeding up. Like taking a shower in the morning, the water waking up every cell in his body. But _more_. So much more. His cells didn't just wake up, they were reading to run a marathon. At that moment, he could do _anything._

And what he did was turn his body to hard rock as a wall of flame exploded around him. The ceiling caved in. The walls shook. He was glad this was a one story building. And they were the opposite side to the Blackbird. Darwin didn't want to be crushed by a jet. It was bad enough being crushed by a lab.

Once the world stopped collapsing in, Darwin stood up. Concrete and steel falling off him as he rose, crashing back against the floor. The lights had been blown out, and dust was heavy in the air. An alarm rang in the background. He blocked it out easily. He could see someone hunched over, hear them muttering under their breath.

"Damn it Scott." Alex muttered.

Darwin hurried forward. The blast must of knocked him backwards as he had to cover a large amount of area to get to them. The floor was deep in rubble and debris. He crouched down next to Alex, eyes following his arms down to Scott. Hands pressed hard onto his torso. Alex shouted at him to put pressure on the boy's leg. Darwin complied, finding the bullet graze easily. Not too bad, though it must hurt like hell. Scott grinned at Darwin, weakly.

"Are you OK?" he asked. His clothes were a mess, only strips left on his body. But there was not a scratch on him from the explosion. His eyes were screwed up, his visor was gone, and his body was rigid. He had been on the floor, meaning the rubble had blasted over him, into Darwin.

"Me?" Darwin asked. "You got shoot."

" _Twice._ "

Alex sighed, but he didn't seem annoyed. More he was just playing the part he knew he had to play. "That's not something to be proud of."

Scott reached his hand up, seeing through Alex's thin veneer. His hand catching on the edge of Alex's face. Just touching it, softly, with shaking fingers. Alex's hands stayed pressed on his stomach. They were covered in red. Darwin felt like he was watching something deeply personal but he couldn't look away.

"I promised Dad I would look after you. Now I'm finally doing it." He tried to shift and winced. His face screwed up. All his face. He'd never saw all of Scott's face before. He hoped if he ever would the kid wouldn't be in so much pain. That the face would be happy, not in agony.

"Don't talk like that." Alex said softly, looking away. Scott's hand hit his face weakly, making clear he wanted the man to look at him. How the kid knew where the man was looking with his eyes closed, Darwin didn't know. After a shaky breath in, he looked back. Tears were beginning to well in his eyes.

"Like what?" Was his voice getting weaker? Darwin didn't like to just sit there, helpless.

"Like you're going to die."

Scott snorted. He winced again. "Take more than a couple of bullet holes to kill a Summers."

"You know it." But Alex's voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Oh my stars and garters, what happened here?" Darwin's head snapped up, a grin breaking out on his face. He'd never been so happy to see Hank (the scientist, not the Beast) before.

"Scott needs you." Alex yelled. In seconds, the man leaped across the room, seemingly undaunted by the rubble, and charred bodies,  in the way. He told Alex to remove his hand so he could examine the patient. Immediately, he yelled at him to put them back on. Blue hands moved so fast and in ways Darwin couldn't make sense of.

"He'll be fine." Hank finally announced.

"Told you." Scott said, managing to sound like he'd just won a debt rather than just being told he was going to live. He stuck his tongue out.

"If you hadn't been shot already, I would shot you again." Alex replied, but it fell flat he sounded so worried.

Hank ripped at Scott's outfit, pulling off the a strip. He folded it up, and put it on the wound. "Scott can you hold that in place?"

The boy nodded, doing as he said. He was worryingly pale. He ripped off another one, tying it around the leg Darwin was holding. As he pulled his hands away he saw they were covered in blood. All Trask did was hurt and kill and make people bleed. They had to stop them. Destroy them all.

"I need to get him to the Blackbird."

"You said he would be fine!" Alex's voice was high pitched. Darwin had never heard him sound so scared before. He pushed back Scott's hair, gently. It was damp with sweat.

"He will be, as long as I get him to the Blackbird."

"I need - " Scott cut off with a heavy breath. "Eyes."

"You need eyes?" Darwin asked, confused. Was the lack of blood making him delirious?  The other two men seemed to understand. Hank ripped off another piece of suit, and Alex carefully tied it as a blindfold. Darwin could only watch on in confusion.  

"Take the third right," said Hank, and it took Darwin a second to realise he was talking to him. "The schematics said some cells are there."

"Affirmative." Darwin said, sounding like a robot. Hank picked up Scott like he weighed no more than a rag doll. Alex went to move with them, but he shook his head.

"Scott's in good hands." Hank reassured. "Alex, you need to help find the prisoners."

"Like hell I'm leaving my brother."

"He'll be fine. Now go. There is some more cells on the fifth left." Alex opened his mouth but was cut off by a harsh and final "Go". Then Hank moved back the way they came, a broken boy in his arms.

"C'mon," said Darwin taking the lead. After one last look at Hank's retreating form, Alex followed. "He's going to fine." And he believe it. There was no better hands than Hank's.

Alex grunted, which translated to 'I don't want to talk about it'. Darwin ignored it.

"What happened back there?" They passed the first right. Darwin was waiting for the guards to come running around the corner. Alex just blew out half their facility! Where were they? "Why wasn't Scott affected?"

The other man sighed, annoyed Darwin wouldn't shut up. "I guess the blocker only works on people who can control their power, or are at least can turn it off."

Scott couldn't turn of his power? No wonder he had a blindfold on his face. And wore those dorky glasses all the time.

"Don't know why the kid thought blowing me up was a good second part, though."

"I'm surprised he could even think of a second part... or a first part for that matter. I could hardly remember where we were."

Alex snorted. "I was thinking 'shoot everything to hell' too. It must be a Summers' thing."

Darwin laughed. "Third right." He said as he came to the turning. Alex gave him a nod of good luck before carrying on towards the fifth right.

As he made his way down the corridor, hands raised and _alone_ , he wanted to run back. Away. Never come back. How many times had he been dragged down a corridor identical to these (towards ripping and destroying and burning and screaming)? Or gaze out his sick little window and wish to trade places with a guard on the other side (and punch and kick and laugh and hit him)? He took a deep breath, then another. He wasn't a lab rat anymore. He was free.

Here, they had no windows. No viewing areas. Nobody to study and analyse you in your quarters, clipboard in hand and face almost pressed into the glass. At least, not that he could see.

He tried the first door. It opened easily under his touch. As did the next. Maybe they had already moved the prisoners? Or maybe this section had always been empty. But, as he turned the corner, a bullet hit him.

Aimed for the body. Two in his stomach, one in the shoulder, one much too close to the heart for comfort. If he was an ordinary man he would be dead - or, at least, close to it, lying on his own blood on the floor. He strolled forward, savouring the look of panic that came over the guard's face. It increased with each step he took forward. The bullets increased pace, in till the clip was empty. Another guard slid around the corner, joining in the shooting.

He grabbed the guns end, smashing it into the first guard's face. He grunted, stepping back, hands going up to his bloody nose. Darwin spun the gun around so he was holding the trigger side and shot the other guard in the leg, point blank range. He fell with a yelp. He turned back to the first guard, aiming it at him. Taking pleasure in the fact he was in control. How many times was it the other way around? They were the ones hurting him because they could.

The man's gun clicked empty. He swore, dropping the gun. Blood flowed out his nose, dripping on his clothes. Fist raised, he punched. Darwin let it hit him, his grinning growing wider as the man cursed. Knowing he couldn't win, the guard turned and began to ran. Darwin shot, hitting the retreating man in the back. He fell on his front, skidding forward. A pool of blood stained the clean white floor.

Only when the sound of the gun faded to nothing, the echoing disappearing down the corridor, did Darwin realise what he did. He just shoot a man, in the back, while he was _retreating_. And he _enjoyed_ it. Took pleasure from the pain and the hopelessness.

"It's this place." He said to himself, his words ringing down the corridor. "It's making me forget who I am." Great, now he was talking to himself. Maybe he needed to get Hank to see if that power blocker had any long term side effects. He wondered if he could adapt to mental illness as well as the non-mental kind. Then he laughed. His current state of mind proved he couldn't. He shook his head, trying to clear it. He moved to the door the guard had been protecting.

 Locked by a key pad. Opened by bullets. The door swung open and Darwin stepped inside. The room was blindingly white, covered in red lines, trailing down the wall. Blood. A far too skinny girl was sitting on the bed, crossed legged and trying far too hard to be casual. She had a black eye, and her knuckles, lying on her thighs were bloodied and raw. Like she had punched something again and again and again. The wall. The blood smears on the wall. She had blonde hair that was greasy and lank, parts dyed and crusty with congealed blood. She had a pair of terrified blue eyes, sunken into her face from lack of food. Despite all this, she might of still been pretty without that scowl etched onto her face.

"Who the fuck are you?" She asked. Darwin blinked. Not exactly the response he had been expecting.

"I'm Darwin." She snorted.

"Did your parents hate you or something with a name like that?"

"Oh my parents hated me, but I picked the name." She didn't seem shocked by his answer.

"Do you hate you then?"

Darwin sighed. "Clearly someone didn't pay attention to science," he muttered under his breath, but he made sure it was loud enough for her to hear it. Her scowl deepened and Darwin tried to remember that he was trying to make friends her, and she did want to leave. It was all a façade.

"I'm here to rescue you. Come on." He moved back through the door, only going a few steps before realising she wasn't following. He moved back into the room, giving her a look which asked what the hell she thought she was doing.

"I'm not following a man in bright yellow spandex. I'll get out on my own." Darwin cursed. He told Hank to change the colour scheme.

"I'm a superhero, we have to wear awful suits!"

"Superhero?" She didn't look impress. "Is that the line you use on all girls, or just the ones in cells?"

"Trust me, I don't give a fuck about picking up girls whether they are in cells or not. So either you get your ass up and follow me or I'll leave the door open and save someone who actually wants to be saved." Damn, he always thought the annoying captive only existed in bad books.

She got up, limping slightly, her right hand holding her side. He forgot that other people didn't heal like he did (actually get hurt in the first place and the cutting and the slicing and burning doesn't stop hurting and the pain carries on and Darwin doesn't understand that at all). She tried to barge her way past him, but he stepped in front, earning himself another glare.

"I can stop bullets, can you?" For all he knew she could. After a moment she slunk behind him, answering his question.

"You're going the wrong way." She hissed at Darwin the moment he stepped out the door. "Exit's this way."

"I still have more rooms to check." Well, she couldn't argue with that. As he moved on, he saw her kicking the bodies on the floor behind him, too harshly to be checking if they were still alive. Darwin didn't feel like he was in the position to complain about her actions.

They turned the corner, the corridor coming to a dead end. Three doors went down the side. The first two were open, but the third was locked. Darwin grinned, prising the top of the keypad. It only took him seconds to rub the right wires together to cause the door to beep open. Maybe not as action figure like as shooting it, but he was concerned about the amount of bullets left in the gun.

He stepped through the door, greeted by another terrified teen. At the sight of him, or maybe the other girl dressed in the same complex issued scrubs, she ran forward. He flinched, expecting an attack, but she only threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. "You're here to save us!"

Her voice was thick, heavy with emotion and tears. Awkwardly, he patted her back. He could feel every bone in her body. If he squeezed too hard he thought she would snap like a twig.

"Yeah. I am." He told her, getting a mouth full of jet black hair.

She pulled back. Her long hair fell across her face, and she smiled at them shyly. It came out wrong. Like the girl wasn't used to doing it. She could only of been thirteen. Just looking at her sunken face and terrified shaking made his blood boil.

"Sorry," She whispered. Her voice was raw from disuse (and screaming). "I don't mean to cry."

"It's alright." Darwin said, crouching down and looking her in the eye. They bore into his. He wondered the last time she'd been looked at without the sadist leer of scientist and guards who just wanted to hurt her. She nodded, slowly. Then her eyes grew wide and before he could even ask what was wrong, a gun exploded behind him.

The next nanosecond, the girl was gone. He didn't have time to work anything out. He just knew the bullet hadn't painted the room in anyone's brain. Then he was turning, lifting up his own gun. Shooting. The guard fell to his knees, a look of shock on his face, red hands clutching a hole in his stomach. Then he hit the floor with a bang.

Darwin looked down. The two girls were on the floor, the younger one on top, protecting her with her body. The blonde untangled herself from the other, looking completely in shock.

"You save my life." Blondie whispered in awe. Lives like this didn't really understand compassion.

"I wasn't going to let you die." Blondie smiled.

"I'm Petra."

"Suzanna."

Petra got up, holding her hand out. "Let's get out of here Suzanna." The younger girl took it. "And thank you."

Why Suzanna got a thank you and he didn't, Darwin couldn't work out. He didn't even understand how Suzanna had even managed to get to Petra in time. One minute she was in front of him and the next she wasn't. Maybe he'll get one in the Blackbird, or maybe Petra didn't like black people, or gay people, or _men_ people. He was really taking this thank you thing personally.

He picked the gun off the fallen guard, weighing it in his hand. Still had a fair amount of bullets left. He moved over the body carefully, not wanting to slip in the blood. As Petra got in front of the guard, she pressed a foot against the stomach wound. He moaned in pain. Trying in vain to get away from her.

"This is for trying to shoot me jerk." And then she stamped her foot down. Darwin would never forget the way the guard screamed. He screamed like that once, too. As he rolled on the floor in agony, Petra lifted Suzanna up over him. She didn't look scared of the older girl, though she looked terrified of everyone else. Maybe she wanted to do that to the guard as well.

They met no resistance on the way back, and as they got to the staircase leading to the roof it become clear why. Guard littered floor, clearly there to stop anyone escaping. A couple, still able to move, tried to attack them, but in their weaken state Darwin could take them out easily. Behind him, Suzanna cowered in till they were all down.

Petra whistled. "I don't know what's more impressive : the fact your team managed to blow up half the building, or the fact they too down every rent-a-guard in the state."

Darwin ignored her, and they burst out onto the roof.

"I change my mind. The getaway jet is definitely more impressive."

Suzanna shivered, moving closer to Petra, and Darwin made a note to find a blanket in the jet. Just because he didn't feel the cold didn't mean nobody else did.

As they walked up to the platform, Darwin took deep breaths of clean air, expelling the smell of chemicals and death and oh God from his system. He would never have to smell that again.

"Two more?" asked Sean as they came on board. Behind him a girl was standing on her tiptoes, looking at the new arrivals.

"Rusty?" She asked, desperately.

"Nah, we're shiny." said Petra as she moved to her seat. For all her sass, she was still holding her side in agony. She strapped Suzanna into a seat, before doing the same for herself.

"Everyone in?" Hank called from front.

"NO!" The girl screamed, running to the jet door. "WE HAVEN'T GOT RUSTY!"

Darwin tried to grab her as she slipped past him, but his hands seemed unable to get a grip. Sean closed the door. The girl ran into it, seemingly unbothered about her own health. She smashed against it with her fists.

"RUSTY!" she yelled.

"Lassie, ye've got t' calm yerself." Sean said, speaking softly, hands up in a non-threatening manner. She punched the door angrily again, ignoring him. Finally she collapsed in a heap, exhausted. Tears streamed from her eyes.

"Where's Rusty?" She asked, chest heaving.

"I don't know. But he's not here."

She shook her head. "No. No. No no no no. They caught us together. He's gotta be here."

"We'll find him, be we have t' go now." Sean soothed. She kept shaking her head. They all knew what happened to Rusty, just nobody wanted to say it. Nobody wanted to believe it.

"Rusty. I gotta save Rusty." She kept muttering. Slowly, Sean coaxed her into a chair and strapped her in. She was still muttering the mantra under her breath. Darwin took a seat by Petra.

"Let's roll." Hank said, flipping on the engines and causing them too vertically lift. The only sound as they rose were the sobs of the girl which Banshee was comforting. They stopped, just hanging over the complex. Then Hank shot three blasts out the plane. The lab went up in a fiery explosion.

Darwin watched the bright yellow-orange-red against the deep black sky as they flew away. He'd done it. Trask was burnt to the ground. The mutants were safe. Why didn't this feel like the happily ever after it should? Then it was only a burning speck in the distance, and Darwin looked away, back to his hands. They were still crusted in dried blood. Quickly he looked back out the window.

In front, Hank flicked some switches before speaking through the com system. "Hello all, this is your captain speaking. You'll be pleased to know you can take off your seat belt. However we do not have a license and we will be travelling through redistricted air space so be prepared to strap yourself in at a moment's notice. If anyone injuries themselves, I am also the designated Doctor on the plane. Unfortunately, my co-pilot is as high as this jet right now, so I will not be able to help you. Thank you for flying with us, I hope you have a good journey."

Darwin rolled his eyes at the speech. They were meant to be reassuring them, not making it seem they were a bunch of hyped up children. He clicked off his seat belt, looking to his left.

"Are you OK?" He whispered to Petra. Then he realised what a ridiculous question that was. Of course they weren't OK. They were never really going to be OK again. Suzanna was sleeping, her head lying on the older girl's lap, her dark hair spread out like a curtain. Her face was twisted into a frown giving away the fact her dreams were not pleasant. She wasn't going to have a good dream for a very long time. Petra's hand was threaded through the raven hair protectively.

She nodded, clearly just wanting him to leave. His eyes lingered on her, but he could find nothing more to say. After a second, he walked off, to the back of the plane. Alex was still strapped in, next to slightly dribbling Scott. He still had the blindfold on. Darwin nodded his head towards it.

"Doesn't he have a spare pair of glasses on the plane?"

Alex nodded, showing him the shades in his hand. "Damn kid keeps trying to take them off. If we want to stay in the sky, he'd got to wear that blindfold."

"Lexy? Lexy, Lexy, Lexy!" complained Scott, tugging at his older brother' arm. "Stop talkin' 'bout me like m'not here. M'blind not deaf." He giggled, Alex sighed.

"He's a lot less demanding normally." He explained. Darwin already knew that, it was just nice to see Scott smile like that. Even if it was because he was as high as a kite.

"Lexy? Lexy?"

"What do you want now?"

"Lexy, am I annoying you?" Darwin could _hear_ Alex's teeth grit together.

"Why would you think that?" He spitted the words out. Scott's grin turned wider.

"Is that a yes or a no? Winny, is that a yes or a no?" It took Darwin a moment to realise Winny was Scott's nickname for him.

"Yeah. He's pissed." He informed the boy.

Scott nodded, suddenly seeming as serious as always. "I thought so." Hell, he even sounded mournful.

"So _Lexy_ ," Darwin asked, unable to help himself. His grin was answered with a glare that could smash glass. Oh, he had so gained a new nickname. "Who did you find?"

Alex pointed to the front of the plane. "The green hair hottie, Lorna, and the Asian man next to her. I don't know if he can't speak English, or if he's just a dick."

Upon hearing her name, Lorna turned around. She looked about seventeen, with skin so pale Darwin wouldn't be surprised if she had never seen the sunlight before. Her face was skinny, like everyone there, and her hollow eyes were haunted. But she still gave Darwin a smile and a finger wave.

"Have you ever seen something so _fine?_ " Alex hissed. Scott began to sing _Alex's got a crush, Alex's got a crush_ out of tune in till he was silenced by his brother's hand over his mouth.

"She's just out of her cell!" Darwin pointed out, not at all shocked at the other man, more pointing it out in principle. Alex shrugged.

"Nothing wrong with looking."

Scott slapped him in the face. Luckily he was so out of it, it wasn't actually hard. "Mom taught us better than that Lexy."

In front of them Lorna laughed. Alex flushed red, his head sinking into his hands. "I'm never going to get laid." He muttered in despair. The lines around Scott's mouth said he agreed.

"Who are the rest?" Darwin asked, before the brothers could start bickering. He found out quickly that it was their favourite hobby.

"The girl in Sean's arms is Skids. You tried touching her right? Well, you know you just skid right off. The other kid he brought in hasn't told us."

Darwin followed his gaze to a boy of about fourteen. He was huddled up in one of the chairs, legs pulled tightly up to his chest. In till Alex pointed him out, Darwin hadn't even noticed him.

"Hasn't said a word, actually." Alex continued. "Don't know if he even can."

Darwin looked around the group. Less than a week ago he was in the same place as them. Feeling the same thing. Trying to work out if they were really rescued, really _free_ , or if they cracked, or if this was just another test and soon there will be cutting and screaming and pain again. They were all so tense, terrified of what the answer would be. He wanted to say something, reassure them that things were going to be alright. That they were free and they would never be lab rats again.

But at that moment all words failed him. He couldn't find the right ones to make them believe. And he knew nothing he could say would make them feel better. No one would feel good for a long time. There was nothing he could do. He had saved them from Trask, but next was themselves and after that was the world. That wasn't going to be as easy.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath in. They had their work cut out for them.

*

Darwin flexed his hands on the steering wheel, admiring the fine leathering covering it had. He was in the front seat of Charles' Rolls Royce. Never had he driven in a car this expensive. He could spend days just admiring the shiny paint work alone. But he didn't have days. He honked the horn once, and it cut through the air loud and clear. He hoped that would get the attention of those inside.

After a second, a red head pushed her way through the front door. The suitcase she was carrying was over half her size, but her face was so fierce, Darwin didn't dare offer to carry it for her. Instead he slipped out the driver's door and opened the boot with the key. Charles had given it to him with a warning about not letting Alex in a hundred meter radius of it. Something about a habit of losing them. Darwin thought it was a bit of an exaggeration. Why would you take your eye off a car like this for even a second?

Moira threw the suitcase into the boot, the car rocking slightly under the weight. She held her knees, trying to get her breath back.

"Have you taken all of Hank's research?" He asked, only half teasing. It had turned out Hank had kept double copies of all his files, not to mention all the ones he liberated from Trask. Darwin tried to make himself believe that it was OK. It wasn't working very well, but he hadn't burnt the man's new lab to the ground either, so he was counting it as a success.

She flicked her hair out her eyes. "If only I had that much room..."

If Darwin didn't trust Hank with the research, he trusted Moira even less. She helped them at Cuba (though was she still the same woman as back then seeing as she can't even remember it?) and she saved him and the other prisoners from Trask. But she was also CIA. How did they know she wasn't going to give it all back to them the moment their backs were turned? And he didn't trust Charles 'it'll be fine'. He hadn't dared entered the woman's mind again.

"Sean?" He asked her.

"Coming out in a minute. You know what men are like at goodbyes."

She smiled, before slipping into the back. After a minute, Alex and Sean came out the front doors. Alex was carrying the other man's suitcase and explaining in great detail about strip clubs.

"So no," said Alex with an exasperated sigh and threw the suitcase in the boot. "we can't just go to the _pub_! This is your last day as a free man!"

Sean announced last night, quite calmly at the dinner table, that he was engaged to marry. He said he didn't want to mention it before and distract them from the case. Hank had been so shocked he dropped his spoon in his soup, splashing it all over himself. He'd only just picked it up again when Sean mentioned he wanted Alex to be the best man, and it went back into the soup. He invited them all. (Yes, even ye Hank, nae, being blue is not a good excuse for failing t' come, nae, Maeve said she wanted t' met all me Yankee friends.) And suddenly April was booked up.

Sean sighed as well, clearly seeing he wasn't going to win this. "Once ye've met Maeve ye'll see I haven't been a freeman in a while." He turned to Darwin. "I knew I should of picked ye as me best man!"

He shrugged. "Too late now."

"Are ye sure?" He hissed, and Darwin wasn't convinced that is was all completely a joke. Alex punched him in the shoulder.

"Oi!" He complained, rubbing his skin. Then Alex pulled him into a tight hug.

"Are you sure you need to go?"

Sean hugged him back. " _I_ have a job, remember? Not t' mention a very fierce fiancée. Anyway, ye'll be visiting me in a couple o' months."

They pulled away, Alex sporting a grin so wide it must be hurting his cheeks.

Darwin slammed closed the boot, and made his way to the front of the car again. As he slipped into the seat, he wondered if your driving license was still valid if you had been kind-of-sort-of-at-least-legally dead for the last two years. Not that cops would actually need an excuse to arrest him. Charles had assured him that the police no longer have eyes for Mr. Muñoz anymore, and he can go home quite safely, but Darwin still wasn't one hundred percent convinced. After a moment more of goodbyes, he entered the car next to Moira. He took his hat off, sadly.

"I'm going t' miss it here." He said. Moira nodded her agreement. She seemed to grow attached to the mansion very quickly. Darwin was beginning to wonder how well Charles' wipe had been - especially when mentioned she felt like she had been here before. That had the five men looking at each other uncomfortably. He looked at the window at the crowd that had gathered to wish them goodbye.

Skids stood closest to the car. Since she found out her boyfriend, Rusty, had been killed at that lab, she had spent most of her time flicking between crying and having angry outbursts which usually involved everything in her immediate vicinity being destroyed. Sean had been the only one able to calm her down. Darwin hoped the task would not fall on him now since he was invincible.

The other boy, Larry, sat on the steps behind her, curled up on himself. He still hadn't uttered a word, though Charles' psi probe confirmed it was psychological. They had only found out his name from his Trask file, his mind too chaotic to keep long conversations up mentally. This was the first time Darwin had seen him out his room by his own choice.

Alex had taken a spot next to Lorna. The attraction was clearly mutual, though it turned out Alex was _shy_ around women he liked. Darwin thought it was good they were taking it slow. Lorna needed time to adapt to the outside world again.

Both Petra and Suzanna (not Suzy and _definitely_ not Sue) was there, though Darwin suspected the former was there for the latter rather than anyone in the car. Suzanna, who in the few days had managed to form a bond with, well, e _veryone_ , had managed to form a deep one with Moira. The only dip had been when she found out Moira was not a mutant, but the excitement of asking the ex-CIA agent turned fugitive all kinds of questions won out.

Scott lit up a cigarette before putting it out, sending a glare at Charles' head. Which turned to laughter when the man turned around. Darwin wondered what the boy had thought to put _that_ look on his face.

And last of all stood Hank (Shiro, the Asian Alex had rescued, left the first night without even a thank you. Trust all the hot ones to be dicks). Moira and him had bonded over genetics. It turned out she had a passion for it, and even took a degree in it. Darwin wondered how she ended up as a CIA agent. It explained why Charles and her got on so well before. This time though, they had barely said three words to each other, and each one oozed with awkwardness and regret.

Darwin pulled away, grinning at the waving hands he could see in the wing mirror. "I think they're going to miss you too."

"Any idea where yer going t' go?" Sean asked Moira, as Darwin exited through the grand gold gates.

"I suppose you know the ridiculous route I've been set?" Darwin didn't, but whenever he'd asked it had been made clear to be on a need to know bases. All he needed to know was 'airport' and 'get her to'.

"Know?" Sean laughed. "I helped t' make it! Surely a CIA agent like yerself knows it's the best way t' disappear?"

" _Ex_ -CIA agent." She reminded him. "And I _know_ that. Doesn't mean I have to like it. But I am thinking Scotland at the moment."

"Scotland?" Darwin asked. Unlike some Americans he could name (cough Scott cough Alex cough) he _did_ know Scotland wasn't apart of England. Just as he knew Sean's side of Ireland wasn't a part of the United Kingdom. ("United Kingdom?" Sean had scoffed, "It sure as hell aren't united and last time I checked it was a Queendom!") Though the other side and Scotland was. And really he couldn't blame Scott for thinking Ireland was by Australia because the whole thing was damn confusing.

"Aye. I was born in Dundee and lived a while in Glasgow. Course, I can't go back there, but it will still be nice to go back to my homeland."

Sean nodded in agreement. "Nothing beats it."

Darwin wondered if he should visit Mexico, where his dad came from. Then he realised that if he had a homeland it would be The Village.

"What about you Darwin? Are you staying at the mansion?" Moira asked.

"It would be safest. But I have some friends in the city. Planning on visiting them. See if they still accept me."

Moira smiled a small sympathetic smile. "They'll be wrong not to. I haven't known you for very long, Darwin, but you are one of the best men I've ever met."

Darwin blushed, his cheeks flaring red. "Thank you." He said, slightly shocked. Nobody had said that to him before. Beside her, Sean frowned.

"What 'bout me, woman? Am I not a great man too?"

Moira frowned. "Not if you keep calling me woman." Then she laughed, like it was a joke. Darwin guessed from the fire in the eyes she wasn't actually kidding. Sean, too, looked vaguely worried, and swallowed audibly.

"Not to mention," Darwin carried on, "those kids back there need me. I know what they're going through. I can help them. Also, if they only have Hank, Alex and Charles teaching them, the next generation of mutants are going to be a bunch of introverts who like blowing things up."

For the rest of the journey they chatted about genetics and Sean's wedding and danced around the Moira's questions about why Charles had barely said two words to her. Mind wiped ex-lover didn't have a good way of being said.

He pulled into the airport, other cars letting his expensive car slide past, no doubt expecting the rich and famous inside. Darwin used to spit on cars like this when they drove past him. He got out and opened the boot, his mind suddenly remembering his days as a taxi driver. Oh, he missed it. He opened the passenger doors, and pulled their luggage out. He hugged Sean, and gave Moira two kisses, one on each cheek. He wanted to thank her again for getting him out of that place, but she was beginning to get uncomfortable with his gratitude.

And then they were gone, dragging their luggage behind them. Melting into the busy airport crowds. For a moment, he just watched them go. Then he got back in the car, taking a deep breath. He flexed his hands on the steering wheel. _There's no place like home_.

He pulled out the space, keeping his eyes on the road. His brain was spinning at a million miles an hour. His brain flew through the mantra of 'what if? what if?' and none of the answers were coming back in his favour. Every option, every route leaving him in a worse position. The butterflies in his stomach seemed to be multiplying at an expediential rate, and putting on pairs of Mother Superior's stilettos.  His hands shook against the steering wheel. The road in front of him seemed to stretch forever and he didn't want it to stop. For the first time in his life, he wanted the police to stop him, just to give him more time. No matter how many deep breaths he took he couldn't get enough oxygen.

And then he arrived. It was too soon. He needed to go in. He couldn't move. He thought _I can't leave a car this expensive here._ He thought _they'll never let me in._ He thought _there's no place like home._ Then he thought about Moira. A grin broke out on his face. _You are one of the best men I've ever met._

He got out, legs shaky but holding. Slammed the door behind him, too hard. Locked it with the key. He really shouldn't leave a car that expensive here. He couldn't turn back. He placed the key in his pocket. Step. One. Two. Three. Four. In front of his old cab.

He reached forward, touching the peeling yellow paintwork. Touching the rust. So much better than the Rolls Royce. Money wasn't everything. Memories, they were what was really important. He forced himself to keep moving.

Up the front path. Weeds poked through the concrete slabs. His eyes couldn't leave the floor, no matter how loud his brain screamed at him. Boom boom boom. Was that his heart? If felt like it was going to burst out his chest. He could hear it in his ears. He put his hand up to it. Boom boom boom.

Then he was at the door. He pushed it open. The lock was still broken. All the flat owners never got around to coming together and fix it. Some things don't change. He entered. It smelt like cigarettes and stale beer and piss. Like it always did. Like home.

Nausea rose up his throat. He swallowed down. He was OK. He can do this. No. He _needed_ to do this.

Stairs. Fifteen to the first floor. Fifteen to the second. A bike locked to the railings at the top. The number six had fallen off the door. Someone had come along and painted it red. He betted it was Mug. He lent forward. He could still smell it. Fresh.

He lifted his knuckles up. It feel back down. He closed his eyes. Took a deep breath. _What if...? What if...? What if...?_ He needed to do this.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Nothing. The seconds ticked by. Maybe minutes. Or hours or months or _years_. Nobody was in. Wait. A sound on the other side. Feet, moving. Gasp. Seeing him through the peephole. He recognised that gasp. He would never forget it.

Will they open? Yes. Nearly swung off its hinges.

Miguel.

Hair grown long into dreadlocks that hung to his waist. He was unshaven. Too big clothes. He always used to wear clothes that fitted him perfectly. He didn't care. He wanted to say something.

_I love you._

_I've missed you._

_I need you._

But his voice was gone. His thoughts shattered into a million pieces. He couldn't catch a single one. And then he was being pulled close. Lips on his. _Miguel's_ lips on his. And for a moment Darwin is in the past. How many times have they kissed? In clubs and in the house and in an alley way. Their tongues fought for dominance. Breath tasting awful, coming out in pants. Darwin pushed himself into him in till they crashed into the living room's wall. Hands tangles in hair. Fingers in belt hoops. Pulling closer and closer. Not a millimetre between them.

And then Miguel pulled back. Too soon. He put his head against the wall, gasping. His eyes never left his. He shook his head. Laughed, slightly manically. Pushed him back gently. Soft hands touched his face. A smile of disbelief. Opened his mouth.

"You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
